The Game of Life
by Ginny-Rose95
Summary: Rachel and Finn weren't careful. Rachel has to pay the price.
1. Chapter 1

Rachel sat there quietly, watching Finn and Quinn make googly-eyes at one other. She felt the sting of tears come, but hurriedly blinked them away, refusing to show the weakness, and tore her eyes from them, a small hand automatically coming to rest on her stomach. Finn didn't want her anymore, and that was okay. He was still willing to be friends, so why couldn't she? Why was it so easy for him, but hard for her?

_Because, _she thought bitterly, _you know something that he doesn't. Something you are too damn scared to tell him. _But no, that wasn't necessarily true. She wasn't scared to tell him, per say, scared at what he'd say. After all, he was happy now, happy to be with Quinn despite all of the drama from last year, and happy with just being friends with Rachel. She had told Quinn that she wouldn't give up, her song had been for him, and they both knew it. She loved him and she was sure he still loved her. And she knew, just _knew _that Quinn was using the boy to get back on top.

And yet, she realized as she peeked through the corner of her eyes at the two, he was _happy_. Happier than he had been since their break-up at the very least, maybe happier than when they had been together. Quinn hadn't been right to take that happiness from him last year when she got pregnant and told him he was the father (a horrid lie), so what would be the difference with her? Even if she was telling the truth, unlike Quinn, it wasn't right to take that happiness from him, the last traces of his childhood.

_But, _a nagging voice in her mind rang out_, it's not fair to keep him out of it either. _Quinn had done that to Puck, and that had disastrous results in itself. Rachel wanted to cry out in frustration, bitter tears fighting their way onto the surface of her face, but she batted them off again.

She knew that with her, the pregnancy would be different. For one, both her fathers were supportive, taking her to the doctor's the first time and scheduling another one afterwards, believing her when she told them that they _had _used protection, and even excited that, even though it was ten years before expected, they were going to be grandparents. For another, she wasn't giving the child up, even if it ruined her plans, she could make new ones.

And the last reason, she thought of as the rest of the glee club piled in making small talk with Finn and Quinn and smiling at Rachel as Mr. Schuester started the lesson, she had no one to help her, not at school. She was the least popular glee member, in the eyes of the student body; add a pregnancy and her school life was done. Even if the glee members wanted to help, she would not let them. It would be suicide.

_No one should have to go through this alone; _she remembered telling Quinn last year. That wasn't necessary true, someone like Quinn shouldn't have to, and she didn't. Someone like Rachel? It was the best choice. That's why, with the tears that she had been fighting now flowing freely onto her cheeks, she stood up in front of the glee members and told that her fathers were making her move, to 'expand their business', and that she would be gone in a month, right after Nationals.

The silence that followed was deafening, then one by one, Mercedes, Puck, Artie, Tina, Finn, Mike, Lauren, and even Brittany all got up to give her a comforting hug. Even Santana and Quinn gave her slightly stiff hugs, with half-sincere mumbles about missing her.

All the while, she avoided Finn's eyes, a small hand resting over the not-yet noticeable bulge on her stomach, repeating a mantra to herself that this was for the best. Best be gone right after they had taken New York by storm but before she could no longer blame her slightly expanding stomach on Kurt's stress baking.

That year, New Directions came in first nation-wide, narrowly beating Vocal Adrenaline. A week after that, Rachel Berry was gone. Kurt and Blaine, the only two that, besides, her fathers, knew of her condition, tried in vain to get her to stay. They were unsuccessful, and with a promise to not speak of it to anyone and an agreement to both be the godfathers to Rachel's unborn twins (well, Blaine godfather, Kurt was more godmother than anything), she left for a new state, new town that had never heard of Rachel Berry.

Almost five months later, Rachel Barbra Athena Berry became the mother to twins Blaine Christopher (named after godfather and father), and Hermione Nataline, known as Natalie, (her family had an odd tradition of giving at least one of their children a Greek name and Nataline to honor the other godfather, his mother's own name).

Rachel's fathers moved to a house about an hour away from New York City, and Rachel, after finishing her high school and despite the children, was accepted into Julliard without much fuss. The twins, however, remained her life. Besides Kurt and Blaine constantly writing, calling, or even the occasional visit to see her and the twins, and the occasional phone call from other New Directions members (besides Quinn because they really couldn't stand each other, Santana because she went off to god knows what, and Brittany from the simple fact that she didn't know how to use a phone), she was completely done with Lima, Ohio.


	2. Chapter 2

~Fifteen years later~

"When are Uncle Blaine and Uncle Kurt getting here?" Rachel hid a smile from her daughter, turning away to continue stirring the cake batter. Fifteen years ago today, her children had come into the world, and god forbid their godfathers forget it.

"Any minute now, sweetie, they will come waltzing through the door, Kurt as fabulous as always, Blaine just holding on to his man's tail coats." A voice drawled from the entry way. Rachel and Natalie both squealed loudly, jumping in the air, before turning to glare at the offending man.

Two men stood in the hallway, both with smirks on their faces. One, Kurt Hummel, godfather/mother to Natalie, was dressed his best as usual with more than slightly flamboyant flair. The other, Blaine Anderson godfather to his namesake, was dressed in a more toned down way, a nice tie and button up.

"God guys! What's with giving everyone a heart attack?" Rachel tried to glare convincingly but lost when Kurt gave her a large hug, murmuring that he had missed her over the two months since he had last been here. He let go of her in favour of switching with Blaine and pulling his goddaughter into an equally bone crushing hug. He pulled away and held her wrists, giving a critiquing eye to her wardrobe choice.

Hermione Nataline Berry was much like her mother, loud voice, small stature, and a quirky beauty not found in every high school girl. She was still slightly shorter than her mother standing at a grand total of 5'2, had the same wavy dark hair, the same sun-kissed skin, and the very same chocolate eyes that still held the innocent doe-eye look that spoke of childhood. _Even_, Kurt thought with an inward grimace, _the same taste of clothing. _His goddaughter wore a tight, knee length, dress with flowers adorning it, blue knee-highs, and light brown ballet flats. It was something that, like most of Rachel's clothing through-out high school, was more acceptable of a child eight, maybe even nine years old.

But, he thought as he gave her a bright smile and told she was as beautiful as her mother, even he had to admit if anyone could pull off that look without looking like a poorly made Japanese blow up doll, it was the two Berry women.

"Jesus Christ, B, what the _hell _happened to your face?" Kurt looked up at the sound of his boyfriend's astonished tone and immediately felt his jaw drop as he took in his nephew's face. He distinctly heard Natalie giggle and Rachel's exasperated (but slightly amused) sigh. He turned to his Blaine to see him slowly go to his godson and lightly press a hand to the bruised eye. "Well?"

Blaine Christopher Berry, unlike his sister, took mostly after his father, which included the distinct uncomfortable feeling that surfaced whenever he was put on the spot. He was taller than both his mother and sister, standing at an acceptable 6'0, and had the same hair that was slightly darker than his sisters, and the same light brown eyes that had a certain light to them that let someone know exactly what he was feeling at the moment. He had the same light skin tone and the same goofy, half-smile his father did. The only thing different was that he had inherited his mother's intelligence, and so knew exactly what the look his godfather was giving him this moment meant.

"Umm," he looked down embarrassedly, running his hand through his hair and unknowingly giving the ugly purple bruise that adorned his eye better lighting. Blaine barely stopped a hiss of anger from leaving his mouth. Someone had hurt _his _godson and unless he heard that the other boy came out looking a lot worse, hell was going to happen.

"Well, Blaine had a little _incident _with a fellow football player at his high school," both Blaines turned to look at Rachel. Blaine had never really understood why Rachel allowed her son to play a sport she abhorred but Kurt had chalked it up to Finn's likeliness that caused her to soften the resolve.

"What happened?" Blaine resolved to ask Rachel as his godson was obviously not going to answer anytime soon. Rachel smiled fondly at her son before addressing it.

"Well, according to Blaine anyway, the boy was making ignorant comments about the gay community. Obviously being from a very liberal family, he felt he had to intervene. The boy and Blaine have had problems all year, ever since they both tried out for quarterback and –"here her eyes got a glint that Blaine, over the years, has come to recognize and in private called Rachel's "someone _fucked _up" look. The appearance of it made him slightly uneasy. "- has been smug ever since the coach ruled that since Blaine is in choir he is not quite committed enough for the 'prestigious' position." The sarcasm dripped from her voice.

"The boy made a comment about our little family and the amount of 'fags' that littered through it and Blaine lost it. He's been suspended from school for a week and kicked off the football team. The school didn't care who started it, they just punished the one who came out of it better." Blaine turned towards his godson and smiled.

"So you beat his ass?"

"Blaine Anderson!"

"What? It's an honest question!" Blaine laughed as his godfather dodged the cookie sheet his mother aimed to hit him with. The smile never quite left his godfather's face as he explained, in detail, how the football coach now had to train the _kicker _to be quarterback until the other boy's arm healed.

"It was quite funny, really; all the boys in school learned not to mess with B and all the girls are fawning over him as the 'bad boy'." Blaine shot his sister a glare and she merely smiled cheekily back at him. He hated the attention, and she knew it. He only had eyes for one girl, the head cheerleader who would not even look at him now because he hurt her 'precious'. Natalie thought that was for the best since the girl was a total snob, to put it nicely.

"Yes, because that's what I wanted my son to be known as during high school." Rachel drawled, bringing attention to her and the delicious cake batter she was now pouring into a cake pan. Blaine made a valiant attempt to swipe some of the batter but his mother smacked his hand with the back of the spoon and he quickly retracted it. "Honestly, if I wanted a child with a bad reputation, I should have slept with Noah Puckerman, that way it would at least be earned!" the statement caused a surprised giggle out of his Uncle Kurt and his own eyes to turn the size of saucers. His mother was never that direct about relationships.

Obviously Natalie jumped at the chance. "Who's Noah Puckerman?" she was horrid at hiding the eagerness from her voice. Their mother shot them an amused look.

"Noah Puckerman was a boy I knew during my McKinley High days, a friend of your father's and a glee club member. We dated for a week before a mutual break-up. We had different paths to follow, mine through the arts, his through the Juvenile Delinquency chapter of the Police Station." Another snort of laughter from Uncle Kurt.

"Speaking of McKinley, what are you going to do about that offer?" Blaine asked conversationally, making his own attempt at stealing batter and getting far luckier than his godson.

"Wait, what offer?" Blaine rarely was confused, but this time his head was reeling. A quick look at his sister said she felt the same. He could feel tension that was rarely ever in the house turn almost suffocating as everyone straightened, waiting for the answer.

Rachel took her time, smoothing out the batter, placing it perfectly center on the middle rack, closing the door slowly so it didn't slam, pressing the timer button slowly enough that each minute was separated by a few seconds, until it reached 35 and she had nothing else to do.

"I promised that once the twins were born, I was done there, but now." She paused, "Now fifteen years have gone by and I miss it, I really do." Natalie was quick, far more so than Blaine, whose face was still scrunched up in confusion when realization dawned on hers.

"Kids," she addressed the two directly, deciding against beating around the bush, "I was offered a job at Lima Community College. It pays the same here, but with better benefits, a bigger house, and a chance for you guys to go to the same high school I did. I heard Mr. Schuester was still there, which means the same amount of talented teaching. I really want to take this job, but not without you guys being okay."

Part of her, a frighteningly large part, wanted them to be selfish, to say no way and have a teenage tantrum about not wanting to leave and for her to give in. So when she was met with no opposition she was surprised and more than a little weary.

"I want to go, I really do!" Natalie was always more excited about new things, less attached to New York and the big city than Blaine was so Rachel still had a little of that guilty hope drowning in her. Blaine was a little slower to answer.

"I agree with Natalie, it gives a chance to know dad." Rachel inwardly blanched. She had never told her children much about their father but she had never directly said they couldn't seek him out. To go back to Lima meant them finding out things she would rather remain in the dark.

Kurt and Blaine, secretly of course, were ecstatic, they had failed fifteen years ago, to convince a sixteen year old Rachel to stay in Lima, but now she had agreed, on her own, to bring herself and two children back. _Back home,_ rang through Kurt's mind as he helped Rachel frost the cake and decorate the birthday cake, and the rest of dinner as well.

His giddiness didn't leave even after all the presents were opened, dishes were done, and eleven o'clock rolled by and everyone headed to bed (Kurt and Blaine agreeing to stay another week to help pack and find a house for the family).

"A penny for your thoughts?" Kurt shivered as Blaine's warm breath slid down his neck. He turned to his boyfriend of forever and smiled.

"Rachel's coming home, I'm happy. Everything will work out." Blaine wrapped his arms around him, pulling him close. Kurt snuggled into his chest, the delicious warmth enveloping him.

"Maybe, but let's not forget. This is Rachel Berry we are speaking of, were she goes, the Drama follows. "

Kurt laughed, smacking him lightly on the arm.

"Too true, but at least, it will be entertaining."


	3. Chapter 3

Rachel was going to kill Kurt.

It had been a month since the twins' birthday, and all had been going well until now. They had found a nice moderate sized home that Rachel and Natalie had both fallen in love with and had moved most of their belongings in to it in the last week and were now agreeing on which classes for the twins to take. This meant visiting McKinley, hence the problems. Luckily, the twins had stayed home with Blaine to continue unpacking. After a tense hour with Mr. Figgins (who luckily did not remember Rachel) Rachel had come to realize a few things Kurt had not felt important to tell her. This brought the first couple reasons she wanted to kill him:

~Santana and Brittany were still here. Coaching the cheerios. He never said anything.

~Miss Pillsbury (well Pillsbury-Schuester) was still here, and after a few tense minutes, was proven to remember Rachel quite well. Kurt nearly told her why they were there. Rachel nearly killed him.

~Quinn was here. Quinn Fabray. And Puck. Together. Quinn helping Mr. Schuester with Glee Club and Santana and Brittany with Cheerios, Puck coaching football and occasionally Glee. Kurt had been silent on this.

It had been a tense ride home, Rachel clutching tightly on the papers in her hands, running the many reasons why she loved the fabulous man besides her and why it would be a bad thing to kill her daughter's godfather. He told her, after a few tense moments that he hadn't known about Santana, Brittany, Quinn, or Puck and after a quick glance at him, she believed him. She had seen him enough over the years to know when he was lying. When they got home, however, the second bout of murderous feelings began:

~ He not only encouraged Natalie to join Cheerios _and_ New Directions but told her how much fun it would be and that old friends of theirs were coaching/assistant coaching.

~ He convinced the twins that Spanish would be very useful, and fun to learn. (Mr. Schuester was still teaching that).

It took all of her willpower to convince herself that he was trying to help (even if that included trying to make it _extremely _easy for her children to be discovered by someone who most likely was still in contact with Finn. Mr. Schuester finding out she had children? She could handle that. Santana finding out? Might be a problem. Quinn finding out? A major problem. Puck finding out? Screwed.

She managed to convince Natalie that it would be best if she waited a week or so before joining anything (a week of possible peace before a former Glee member came storming to her door). She had even managed to get Blaine to take French instead of Spanish. However, Kurt, being fluent in French since his mother taught him practically at birth, had taught Natalie it at her request. Spanish and French were the only languages taught at McKinley and since she had always taught her children to always push themselves, getting Natalie to take an 'easy A' was impossible.

It might be possible to convince Mr. Schuester that it wasn't a mini-Rachel Berry running around at least until he heard her sing, or considering how her daughter was smaller than she was in high school (Mr. Schuester hadn't really seen her until Sophomore year and she had been a few inches taller than her daughter then), she might convince him she had gotten pregnant after she moved away. She knew that as soon as he saw Blaine, however, she was screwed. Blaine was a fifteen year old Finn with more intelligence.

She knew that giving her children over to McKinley was risky, but she had hoped (and how those hopes were dashed) that it was only Mr. Schuester who she could have convinced for the good of the children, not to tell anyone else about it. But now there were four potential people that could find out. Four people whom she had either had crappy relations with or were very close to the father of her children.

After a few hours of debating, Rachel gave up to cook dinner, allowing Natalie to write Spanish as her language elective, but firm on the no extracurricular activities for a few weeks. She also told Blaine football would be out until told otherwise, something her son was still grumbling on, but surprisingly, Kurt and Blaine remained in support of.

Monday came far too early for Rachel, and it was the twins' first day at McKinley and she had almost resorted to pulling her hair out because of nerves. Kurt and Blaine had gone to visit Carol and Burt and promised to check up on the twins at around four (under the pretense of moving a few more items around for Rachel), and all that was left was to drop the two off at school and hope to God no one noticed them. Or for that matter, that the twins didn't ask around for information.

Natalie, Rachel decided, she was not too worried about. Sure she was in Mr. Schuester's class and far more inquisitive about her father than Blaine was, but she also was a little afraid. Afraid that her father was some dead beat that had abandoned her mother once she came to him with the news. Rachel had never said such before, always, on the rare times they talked of their father, told them all of the good qualities he had, the ones that he passed on to his children. But the fear was still there. She was enough like her daughter to recognize it, it was the same fear she had when Jesse had pressured her to find out about Shelby. With no one pressuring Natalie and no real _need _for a father figure (Kurt and Blaine had always been good enough for her) Natalie was more content with speculation and the odd tidbit Rachel let out from time to time.

No, it was Blaine that truly scared her. Blaine had the _desire _to know his father. He had the same problem that Rachel had at his age, no one to truly talk to. Sure Kurt and Blaine were always around, but he had no one to talk things like girls with. And despite Rachel (and Kurt's) insistence that his father was _horrible _at relationships and he was much better, Rachel knew that Blaine would search him out. He had the need for him, like Rachel had, but not the fear she felt. For if Blaine found out his father was dead beat, he would probably just hit him for walking out on his mom and go on with his life. Not that that would happen, but still.

It was Blaine, not Natalie that truly, truly frightened her. For it was him that shared the resemblance to his father, and he that_ needed_ a father. And him that the former Glee members could make that frightening connection between her and Finn with.


	4. Chapter 4

~ First Day of School – Natalie~

Rachel dropped the twins off with a quick good bye hug, and a promise of being home at five to take them to dinner at Breadstix before leaving them in the parking lot to the high school. Natalie would have been lying if she said she wasn't nervous as she turned to the school. This was the school that her mother had gone to before her pregnancy, the one where the Glee club won nationals after only being reinstated for two years. The school her _father _had gone to. Natalie had always wondered about her father, a man she assumed looked just like Blaine, and she and her brother had spent many of nights in their home discussing him. What he would have been like, what kind of father he would have been.

According to Uncle Kurt, Uncle Blaine, and her mother, her father was a wonderful man. A little immature, but wonderful, so why didn't he stay? Did he have no choice? Or did he just choose to leave them and their mother behind? After hearing about what her birth-grandmother had done to her mother in her sophomore year she had been terrified of finding her father and him doing the same. Just leaving her in the dust for something better.

Over the last couple weeks she had been telling herself it was silly and that she wanted to find her father anyway. Preferably, she added when her brother grabbed her hand and started dragging her to the school entrance with grumbles of how she was 'slow' (she smacked him upside the shoulder for that one), with him right beside her so they could meet their father together.

"What class do you have first?" Natalie shrugged and stopped for a second to dig out her schedule. Quickly scanning over the schedule a smile tugged her lips as she gestured. Spanish 1 with Mr. William Schuester, room 13. Blaine smiled back at her. "Good luck then, I have French room 2." Shame, she had enjoyed the support of her older (she rarely admitted it – ten minutes!) brother.

"Bonne chance! Ne manquez pas! Moi et mon oncle sont Kurt des paris à ce sujet!'' He turned to glare back at her and she just smiled brightly and gave him a little wave. She was, perhaps most like her mother, but her godfather was still Kurt; teasing her brother in French had been taught to her by him.

She continued down the hallway by herself, slightly unnerved at how alone she was. Her brother had woken up late and as such they had been late for school. Hence, besides a few stragglers that paid her no heed, she was by herself. So when a blond girl came around the corner and knocked her flat, she was mostly surprised.

"Watch where you going, will you?" the girl, no lady she realized, was quite rude it seemed but Natalie's mother had always taught her not to retaliate in this type of situation so she apologized. "Why are you even outside of class, I should give you a det-"the woman stopped dead after Natalie got up and brushed herself off. If she hadn't known better she could have sworn the woman was looking at like she was some sort of ghost.

"Who the hell are you?" the snobby part of her was back and she was reminded viciously of the head cheerleader back home.

"I'm new here, my names Natalie," she didn't see any point introducing herself fully; with any luck she would never see this woman again. The woman was back to staring at her in that strange way ever since she opened her mouth and spoke, and Natalie was starting to inwardly freak out.

"Fine, go to class; tell your teacher, whoever it is, that you ran into Mrs. Puckerman and got held up. This is the _last _time I will ever cover you, got it?" the glare Natalie was sent shocked her and she gave a little squeak and nod before darting off to her class. She found Room 13 in record time and debated a second on whether or not to knock, before the door opened from the inside and she moved quickly out of the way before it could meet her face in the most unpleasant ways.

A man, maybe in his forties, stood in front of her. He was wearing gray sweater vest with a white tie and had a head of hair with more product than Uncle Blaine's. "Hello you must be the new girl. It's very –"Mr. Schuester cut off in a way that reminded her of Mrs. Puckerman in the hallway. He also looked at her like he was seeing someone else and she wondered vaguely if he was seeing her mother, after all, didn't her mother mention a Mr. Schuester being her Glee teacher? Luckily he recovered himself quickly, and offered a pleasant smile and gestured her into the room.

"Class this is Hermione Berry, she will be joining us from now on. Hermione, why don't you say something about yourself?" he normally didn't do that, just showed the new kid where to sit and went on with the lesson, but looking at her was like looking at a blast from the past, like Rachel Berry was standing in front of him again. He half-hoped her voice would ruin the image, but when the girl spoke it was the same high-pitched melodious tone that he had been accustomed to hearing every day for two years of his life.

"My name is Hermione Nataline Berry, but I've always gone by Natalie so please call me that. I've moved here from New York with my mother and brother. I've always been interested in singing and dancing, and my uncle taught me French so I've decided to take Spanish instead." She flashed the class a bright smile before turning back to Mr. Schuester. He had that peculiar look on his face again. Quickly he directed her to an empty seat and continued the lesson.

The class passed quickly and Natalie found herself quite bored but forced herself to take avid notes as she was almost two months behind in the lessons. When the bell rang she was quite relieved, both for the lesson to be over and to get out of the classroom where Mr. Schuester had continued to glance at her with that look on his face every few minutes.

"Hey Natalie, can you stay back for a moment please?" she nearly cursed before turning from the door and walking towards Mr. Schuester's desk.

"Look, I know I'm very far behind, but I can catch up quickly, you don't have to worry about that Mr. Schuester, I promise I will work very – "Mr. Schuester held a hand out and she faltered.

"I have confidence that you will do fine in my class, Natalie. I've held you back to ask you a quick question." The look was back. Natalie was sure he was about to ask her if she was related to Rachel Berry. She could imagine the conversation that followed, maybe even learning of her father. "Are you related to a Shelby Corcoran by any chance?" Natalie blinked. She wouldn't admit it, but she was quite disappointed that he didn't recognize her. Maybe she didn't look as much like her mother as she thought, or maybe Mr. Schuester just didn't remember her mother at all.

"Ummm no, I've never heard of her. Sorry." Mr. Schuester seemed to be surprised but a smile made its way onto his face. He seemed to be relieved by something. With a warm invitation to visit if she never needed someone in the school to talk to (Mr. Schuester was very strict about bullying) and a quickly written note to her next teacher, she was gone.

As she walked to her next class, she pondered on who the hell Shelby Corcoran could be. She was sure her mother had never mentioned someone with the name, but the last name seemed familiar to her, not that she could quite place it.

Blaine was already sitting down in an empty table and after giving her note to the teacher and he grunted that they had a free day before turning back to his computer, she made her way to him.

"Do you, by any chance, remember mom ever mentioning a Shelby Corcoran?" Blaine shot her a weird look above his French homework.

"Never. Why?" if continued to be short with her, she wasn't going to tell him that he put the wrong answer down for number three.

"Because Corcoran sounded familiar to me, that's all." Blaine snorted and she decided to keep the answer to herself. "What's so funny, B?" she demanded instead, giving him a look her mother would have been proud of.

"Oh nothing really, just that you went to a school with a Corcoran for the best two months is all." Natalie's eye brows shot up and she scanned her mind for any memories of someone named Corcoran. It came back blank.

"I don't remember any one?" Blaine shot her an incredulous look.

"Beth Corcoran? Cheerleader? Friend of Alice, the head cheerleader?" Now Natalie remembered vaguely being introduced to her as that, one her first day of school. Beth had quickly been downgraded into the friend of the snobby girl she couldn't stand. Figures Blaine would remember. He had a thing for cheerleaders. She teased him about it and he was quick to tell her to shut up. That made her feel better.

"How was first period?" he asked eventually, when they had lapsed into silence.

"Weird. Mr. Schuester kept looking at me like he'd seen a ghost. It was kind of weird. And before that I met this Mrs. Puckerman lady who gave me the same look." Natalie bit her lip softly, still caught up on why he would ask her if she was related to a Corcoran.

"That's weird. Guess it makes sense though, after all you are hardly 'normal'." He laughed good naturedly when his sister socked him in arm as hard as she could, which, considering her petite size, wasn't very hard. She asked him (demanded) if his first class was any better and spent the rest of period listening as her brother ranted on the evils of his French teacher, trying not to laugh.

The rest of the day past quietly, and Natalie made it out alive and to the front of the school before anything to bad had been done to the new kid. Within a few moments Blaine was with her, a weird look on his face. When she asked what was wrong he told her he had met this weird Latina lady who had demanded who the hell he was. Another lady asked if he was a clone. She had been serious, apparently.

Natalie tried not to laugh but found it really hard at that point and soon Blaine joined in. They found their way home, still chortling at the stupidity of the lady.

Mr. Schuester past the day in relative silence before meeting with Quinn before Glee started. She had said something about meeting a Berry-Mini and demanded to speak with him. The conversation was short though, him telling her shortly that the girl had already denied being related to Rachel's mother and they had both agreed Rachel was too young to have a child that age. Unless of course she got pregnant at sixteen which they both knew wasn't true.

Thinking of Rachel Berry as a teenage mother was funny to him, considering how prude-ish she had been during her years here, even with a long term relationship with Finn, that hadn't changed. So he arrived to Glee in a relatively good mood. At least until Brittany Pierce, his old student and now co-coach to the Cheerios, came to him with something about a 'Finn' clone.

Because then, and only then, did something dawn on Mr. Schuester. The slight bulge that had appeared on Rachel's stomach before she left with her dads. He had paid it no mind then, chalking it up to all of Kurt's frantic stress baking he was doing at the time, but now, with Santana backing up Brittany's claim to Mini-Finn, he started to wonder.


	5. Chapter 5

~ First Day of School – Blaine~

Blaine turned back from his laughing sister, feeling his face slightly warmer. It's not that he never tried to learn French (his uncle had allowed him in on the lessons) but that he just couldn't grasp it. The thought of another language to him was daunting but, after several years of constant teasing from Uncle Kurt and Natalie he was determined to learn the damn thing.

His resolve lasted until he walked into the classroom, demanded the answer for him being late (he overslept, no point lying), was practically accosted by the tiny man that was supposed to be his teacher, and shoved into an empty seat in the back of the classroom. By then his main goal was trying not to hit the man. Still, he was a good student and wrote down all the notes the teacher wrote the board (although he did get some sort of weird pleasure when a girl no taller than his mother had to write the heading for him as he couldn't reach the top), and starting on the homework assignment that was given at the end of class.

With the bell came the fleeting warning of detention the next time he was late, and a swarm of students exiting the classes to the right and left of him. For a moment, he was lost in the crowd, but after a quick check of his schedule, found his next class (Geometry), on time. The late bell came with no sign of Natalie, whom had the class with him, and only after the teacher announced a free day and sat back down at his desk, did she show up.

She sat next to him, and he returned back to his French homework. He just couldn't get number three right. Resolving to ask Natalie, he was interrupted by an odd question from the very girl. Corcoran? That was the pretty girl that hung around Alice all the time. He shot her an odd look, and after explaining to her that she had known a girl with that name for two months and still no hint of realization, he took pity on her and explained who she was.

She teased him for a few minutes on being able to remember the girl's name (no matter what she thought, it wasn't simply because she was a cheerleader. Honestly.), they fell into silence, Blaine trying desperately to answer the questions right (the teacher refused to give him in leniency, not that he'd asked), before giving up and deciding to ask her about the class.

A weird look passed his sister's face and after she explained how Mr. Schuester as well as some lady named Mrs. Puckerman (the name tickled his memory but he couldn't quite recall it) had given her weird looks when they saw her. It did seem weird to him, considering the fact his mother hadn't mentioned a 'Mrs. Puckerman' and whenever they had stolen her pictures they had never seen anyone that matched Natalie's description of her.

So he jokingly told her that it was because she wasn't exactly normal, which resulted in her punching him and then laughing about it. That flustered Natalie, who then demanded to know how well his first class had gone. That led him into a rant of how extraordinarily evil his teacher was and how he was going to either lock him in a janitor's closet and demand Kurt teach him or switch out into Spanish. That had resulted in both of them laughing and the rest of the class went on in such manor.

The rest of the day was coming off as seemingly normal to Blaine, and he had the acute feeling of disappointment. Obviously, he was happy to not have any more crazy French midgets yelling at him, but this was the school his mother and father had gone to, and as Uncle Kurt had pointed out, had people here that had known both his parents. And yet the closet thing they had gotten to recognization was Mr. Schuester (his mother's old teacher no less), asking Natalie if she was related to someone with the same name as Beth Corcoran, who was as opposite of Natalie as it was possible to be will still being pretty.

Lunch passed in a quiet blur, sitting with Natalie and eating his vegan salad. He had been brought up Jewish and Vegan so (with the exception of a few dinners that Uncle Blaine slipped meat in) he didn't eat meat. Neither did Natalie, as she was of the same mindset as her mother that killing another creature for food was a little too far. Blaine didn't really mind eating meat but also didn't want the lecture from Natalie, hence salad.

Fifth period passed with a substitute and small talk made with a pretty girl and (sadly) her boyfriend. The boy was on the football team, and after catching sight of Blaine, demanded to know if he was going to try-out. Blaine described the best he could without naming the reasons of the fight, how his mother was not permitting it because of the violence. The boy offered to get the coach to talk to his mother for him, to explain the 'importance of sports on a child's personality', but Blaine politely declined, pretty sure that nothing was going to change his mother's new resolve.

Blaine spent the rest of the period in silence, again attempting his French work. So involved with the homework, he hadn't realized the bell had rung until the rest of the class was filing out. With a low curse he stuffed the homework in his bag and pulled out his schedule. Biology with Mr. Bixler, room 22, it read and Blaine cursed again. He didn't even know the school (small as it was) had a room 22, let alone where it was.

This is how he found himself walking around almost aimlessly, trying to find the blasted room, not realizing that he had passed the same office several times in the last few minutes before the lady inside stepped out.

"What are you doing? Why aren't you in class?" a loud, slightly snarky voice echoed out through the empty hallway and he turned to see a young woman, perhaps the age of his mother, with black hair and tanned skin. She was wearing a bright red jacket that had 'Cheerios' written on the corner, indicating that she was one of the cheer coaches.

"I can't find the room I'm supposed to be in," he told her, walking closer to the lady and holding out the schedule. Without looking at the boy, she snatched the schedule and glanced.

"Room 22 is that –"she had started looking up and pointing in one direction before faltering. Blaine, confused, brought his hand up to his face to feel if there was anything on it. Satisfied that there wasn't, his attention turned back to the lady. Her eyes had hardened, and she seemed to be trying to figure something out.

"Who the _hell_ are you?" the lady's tone shocked Blaine. She hadn't seemed particularly nice but now her tone was downright rude, almost aggressive. Her eyebrow shot up and a hand went to her waist in a movement he recognized from her mother. Quickly he answered her, lest he get in trouble his first day there.

"My name is Blaine, I'm new here. My mom moved me and my sister here from New York for a new job she got." The lady's glare didn't soften and she opened her mouth to ask another question but was interrupted by an appearance from another woman. She was blonde, and taller than the first woman, and had child-like qualities to her.

For one, she came practically skipping from the office that Blaine realized the two shared. For another, when she saw him she seemed hardly surprised and asked almost immediately if he was a clone bent on taking over the school with rabid rabbits. He gawked at her before quickly explaining that no, he did not even own a rabbit, and that he was quite sure he came about the normal way. When she asked if that meant from the stork, the other lady intervened.

"We will continue this discussion later, Berry. Room 22 is that way," she pointed to his right, "just tell Bixler that Mrs. and Mrs. Lopez-Pierce kept you." He hardly raised an eyebrow to the fact that they were apparently married, just nodding, giving them a small if not confused smile (many people had that look when they met her wife), and went on his way.

"Why did that boy look like Finnie?" Santana turned to her wife and shook her head, indicating she had no idea. The fact that he did and his last name was Berry shook her somewhat and she resolved to bring it up with Mr. Schuester after his last class.

Blaine ended up twenty minutes late to class but after mentioning the two Lopez-Pierces, his teacher gestured him to a seat with no more questions and resumed the lesson. It proved to be another boring one as Mr. Bixler's idea of teaching was to talk about himself and all his achievements before assigning two sections in the book for homework. Judging from the looks of the students around him, he figured this was a normal occurrence and spent the period trying to figure out what the hell just happened in the hall way.

Explaining to Natalie what had happened had only resulted in laughter and Blaine pushed it to the back of his mind in favour of trying to get Natalie to help (do) his French homework as they walked home. It proved practically worthless as she kept bringing up the blonde Mrs. Lopez-Pierce, which caused both of them to break down in laughter.

If they had known that back at the school a heated discussion was happening in the show choir room about themselves as a result of the bizarre meeting, they might have been more thoughtful about it.

"Are you sure about him? Maybe it was merely the height?" Santana wanted to slap Mr. Schuester, or pour water on his disgustingly perfect hair; she wasn't sure which at the moment.

"I am _telling_ you, Schue, the boy looked exactly like Frankenteen did back in his freshman year. A carbon copy. It was freaky as _hell_, and I wish it was just the height because god knows what will happen with another idiot like Finn Hudson walking around the school, but it was him. I swear." Beside her, Brittany shook her head in avid agreement.

"I thought he was a clone bent on taking over with bunnies, but he said he came by the normal way, so he couldn't have been. After all, everyone knows clones are born out of a chicken egg hatched beneath a toad, and a roaster's call is deadly to them." Everyone in the room stared at Brittany, before shaking their heads and returning to the problem at hand.

"There's just no way that man hands," Mr. Schuester shot Quinn a disapproving look that she ignored, "got knocked up by Finn. They weren't even dating when she left, remember? Me and him were." Not that it lasted much longer after Rachel left, but still.

"Quinn's right, I bet Berry is _still_ a virgin. Or maybe dead and her ghosts come back to haunt us for making her life hell in high school. There is just no _fucking_ way she gave it up to Finn." Mr. Schuester scolded her for her choice of language, which she of course ignored. But Mr. Schuester had to admit they all had a point (besides Brittany he had no idea what she had been talking about, but that was Brittany); Rachel wouldn't have had sex with Finn before marriage, which meant that the two Berry children were merely a coincidence. A freaky coincidence that scared the crap out of him, but a coincidence.

"You guys are right, thinking Rachel got pregnant by Finn and then left before telling anyone is just ridiculous." Rachel had always been a strong girl but there was just no way she was strong enough to leave everything behind to go raise twins as a single mother without telling a soul, and after the fiasco with Quinn and Finn before it, he was sure any Glee member would have coughed up the information in a snap.


	6. Chapter 6

Hello lovely people! I hope all of you who read this on my old account found my new one fine! As promised in the little non-official chapter/update thingy in the old one, here is the new chapter, enjoy!

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"So how was school today?" Natalie rolled her eyes at the carefully neutral tone and generic questioning. She could almost taste the tension Uncle Kurt and Uncle Blaine brought into the house. She shook her head slightly and Uncle Kurt deflated a little. He was her unofficial partner in crime, so when Uncle Blaine went to go find her brother (Natalie had refused to tell him the answer to number three so he resorted to the computer) he practically pounced on her.

He listened intently as she explained that Mr. Schuester apparently did not remember her mother as he thought she was related to some blonde floozy from her old school (she didn't bother with the names). The incredulous look he gave her at this point clearly stated that he very much doubted that. He opened his mouth to ask another question when Uncle Blaine and her brother walked back in.

"Hey Kurt, do you think that you could help B with –"Natalie noted amusedly that sudden stops in conversations had been happening quite often lately, "what are you two up to?" Natalie faked hurt at her Uncle's suspicious tone.

"Absolutely nothing is what we are up to, thank you very much. Uncle Kurt was asking me about my day is all." The suspicious look on his face told her he very much did not believe her, but he dropped the topic, sat beside his boyfriend while Blaine sat beside her and picked up a new conversation.

"Your mother will be home at five," Natalie nodded. Her mother's job was teaching in the music department of the Lima Community College, which meant she (after today) would be getting home about the same as the twins, which Natalie was sure, was not a coincidence.

"Are you guys coming with us to dinner?" Blaine asked the two. Uncle Kurt nodded in the affirmative and Natalie smiled. She loved her mother of course, and generally enjoyed it when it was just her, her brother, and their mother together but, after coming from such a small family, sometimes craved the addition of more people. That and the fact that Uncle Kurt was just hilarious to go out in public with anyway.

"Sweet," Blaine mostly felt the same as his sister, but upon glancing at the clock and realizing they had thirty more minutes to discuss what had been on his mind since the strange encounter from earlier with the two men.

"Look, I don't know what it was about or even who the two ladies were, but I had a _weird _talk with them earlier," he paused at the strange look on Uncle Kurt's face. He seemed to want to say something so he waited. Sure enough, after a few moments he had questions for Blaine.

"Who were they?" after explaining to his uncles how the two introduced themselves as Mrs. and Mrs. Lopez-Pierce and exactly what they had said to them, his uncles seemed more amused than anything. After a bit, Uncle Kurt took pity on Blaine and Natalie and explained to them that Santana Lopez and Brittany Pierce had been two girls he and Rachel had known in high school. He added that they were most likely surprised at how much he looked like his father.

Blaine was about to ask him more about the two but at that moment (way too close to be quite coincidence) his mother had made a slightly louder than usual entrance, which made him cock that crooked half smile his mother seemed to adore.

"Hey guys, ready to go?" for her graces, Rachel seemed to be completely oblivious to the conversation she had just overheard and shot them all a bright smile. Quick affirmatives rang out and after a few minutes for the kids to grab their coats and for everyone to put on their shoes (they were distinctly not allowed past the foyer), they all piled into Rachel's car.

The car ride, although there was no long conversations, wasn't silent as Kurt popped in an old New Directions CD and everyone (even the twins) sang the lyrics out almost obnoxiously. Rachel smiled at her little quirky family as Teenage Dream came on, and before Kurt could change it, Blaine had already caused him to blush red. The news of Santana and Brittany running into Blaine frightened her, even if she wouldn't admit it. Still, that had been better than any of the alternatives. After all, Brittany (although she loved the woman) was stupid enough that she probably thought someone had cloned Finn or something, and Santana was set on Rachel being a complete prude; she probably still thought Rachel was a virgin.

The silence of Natalie struck a nerve on her though. After all, it was Natalie that had a class with Mr. Schuester and she doubted that even after all these years, Mr. Schuester had forgotten about her. She peered at her daughter through the rear-view window, a laugh catching from her thought as her daughter leaned into Blaine to finish off 'Don't You Want Me' with a bang. She parked the car as near the entrance as she could, surprised and a little happy that, after all these years, Breadstix was still around and going strong.

"Ready guys?" the waitress that greeted them had an obviously fake smile and in Kurt's words 'enough disgustingly strong perfume that a skunk would keel over'. Rachel quickly shushed a giggling Natalie and shot a glare to Kurt who merely shrugged and stated he was merely stating a fact, which caused Natalie to break out into giggles all over again.

With a distinctly more cool waitress (Kurt hadn't been very quiet with his fact) they were seated at a table in the far corner (Rachel was pleased) and given menus. Rachel was pleased to realize that the menu hadn't much changed over the years, a few additions here and there and a few cuts there and there but otherwise untouched. She decided in a moment's hesitation to have the vegan Spaghetti over the cheese and spinach raviolis. After a few more minutes everyone (including Blaine who sadly had his father's appetite) had chosen a dish and were now waiting for the waitress to come back with their food.

Rachel, knowing Breadstix even after all these years, picked the place specifically for the long wait for the food and after snatching a breadstick from the basket before Blaine could devour them all, zoned down on Natalie to question first.

"Did anything interesting happen at school today?" Natalie took her time chewing the bread in her mouth, debating on whether or not to mention it. Uncle Kurt caught her eye and winked. She swallowed her food quickly and turned to answer her mother.

"Yes, actually, I was on my way to first period, Spanish, and I accidently ran into this lady. She was blonde, about this high," she gestured with her arm about how tall the lady had been, "and looked at me like she had seen a ghost. She bailed me out of trouble by telling me to tell Mr. Schuester that Mrs. Puckerman had held me up. Then I left; she wasn't the most pleasant of ladies. Do you know a Mrs. Puckerman?" her mother seemed to be quiet, thinking for a second on how best to answer the question, or maybe thinking back to who the lady could have been.

"I know a Puckerman, sure, but he was a man and definitely not the marrying type." Rachel bit her bottom lip softly, turning to Kurt to see if he knew anything. Judging from the surprised and borderline guilty look he had on his face, she deducted he did. She raised an eyebrow at him and he took a drink of his water before responding.

"You didn't mention that earlier Natalie?" he trailed it off as a question. Rachel glared at him keenly.

"It must have slipped her mind. Pray, tell me of this Mrs. Puckerman? I find it hard to believe Noah would marry anyone, I honestly assumed he would still be off screwing whatever caught his eye." Both Blaine and Natalie choked at their mother's bluntness. Normally, she couldn't say such things without blushing red. Kurt himself let out a shocked laugh and Blaine himself cracked a smile at her forwardness.

"It's umm, he uhh," the normally eloquent Kurt Hummel found himself tongue-tied at how best to explain the bizarre marriage between two of their old glee friends. He wondered vaguely how well Rachel would take the news. From the way Rachel was staring at him in an amused, slightly mocking way he judged pretty well.

"He and Quinn got hitched right after high school. Something about wanting to prove her parents wrong about Puck. No one thought they would last long and I really haven't been in touch with them for a long while, hence not knowing they were working at McKinley. I didn't think they would still be together after all these years." Rachel couldn't help it; she burst out laughing. The thought of those two together, Puck and Quinn, was hilarious; especially after all the drama from sophomore year.

"Sorry, sorry. It's just – that's so ironic!" Kurt had to agree. He had been surprised himself when an ecstatic Puck and a blushing Quinn had announced their engagement in front of the entire glee club. He hadn't been the only one, even then, and so he joined Rachel in on the laughter. Blaine followed, and even though the twins had no idea what they were talking about, they caught on with the laughter and the entire table was laughing.

"It's good to see you all having such a good time!" the waitress appeared, carrying all of their food on a large serving plate. The table sobered up and accepted the food with murmurs of thanks. Kurt kept politely quiet when Rachel made an ambiguous prayer (Blaine was Catholic), and they all dug into the food.

"God B, slow down before you choke!"

"U'm sowwy! It's vewy guud!"

"Swallow before you talk! What are you, three?"

Natalie laughed as her Uncle Kurt began to a long winded lecture to Blaine about the 'virtues of tasting your food before swallowing it'. It was one of the weird quirks of Blaine that her mother swore he got from his father. She sort of wished that she had some of those quirks, just so she could have some sort of connection to her father like that. As soon as the thoughts crossed her mind, however, she was always quick to cross them. Blaine deserved to have such connections to their father, considering that Natalie had them with their mother, but still.

"Rachel? Rachel Berry is that you?" Natalie watched as her mother looked up and her face paled. She was surprised that Uncle Kurt and Uncle Blaine had the same response as her mother; curiosity won and she turned to see who had caused such a rapid decline in the mood.

A man stood there, no taller than Uncle Kurt, with darkly tanned skin, almost black hair that was shaved close to the scalp, hazel eyes and a disbelieving look on his face. In the crook of his arm sat a baby girl, about two years old with curly blonde hair and bright blue eyes.

"H-hi Noah, how have you been?"


	7. Chapter 7

Rachel didn't know what to do. Sitting beside her were her two children and the only men outside her immediate family that knew of them. Approaching her was the best friend of the father of said children. She could say quite honestly; she was screwed.

Natalie didn't know to be happy, for the fact that this man had obviously known her mother before the pregnancy, or worried, because all the color had drained from her mother's face and the man approaching looked positively murderous.

Kurt was nervous. Out of all the old Glee club members still living in Lima, Puck was the least to be understanding about the current situation. Not only was he Finn's best friend (a fact that had remained despite the years), but had his own child kept from him and had reacted most violently in that scenario as well.

Both Blaines, for the most part, were completely calm about the situation. One, because he mostly interested in what the man could let slip about his mother's high school years. Another because, even while going to McKinley, had never gotten to know Puck quite as well as the two other adults.

The man stopped a few inches short of the table. Blaine prayed he wouldn't cause a scene.

"What the _hell_, Rachel?" Puck didn't yell. She wasn't sure whether that was a good sign or not, Rachel could feel her face flushing with a mixture of shame and embarrassment and she looked away from him. Kurt gently pushed her and she slid over, giving room for Puck to sit. She hoped he would give her time to explain; judging from the look he gave her as he sat, shifting his daughter to his lap, she doubted it.

"Noah, I can explain…" she fought for the right word; 'This' didn't quite fit, not when they were discussing people and 'them' sounded like she didn't care for her children, which was not the case. "everything." She decided, fidgeting with the hem of her shirt, "the children." She clarified.

"I don't need explaining about that part." Rachel couldn't tell if the roughness came from forcing his voice quieter than normal or from withheld anger; she was too afraid to find out. Puck continued without deterrent, "I knew before you left." Despite her fears, Rachel's head shot up then. Puck was looking intently at Natalie and Blaine as he spoke; drinking in the sight of the children he never got to meet.

"….Sorry?" Puck turned to Rachel then and she was surprised to see an unusual tenderness in his face. The words sank in and she immediately turned towards Kurt. He raised his hands and shook his head, silently telling her he had not told Puck and as such, had no idea he knew. Before she could round on Blaine, Puck spoke up again.

"They didn't tell me." Rachel turned back to him, an eyebrow raised in mild surprise; it was common knowledge that high school Puck was only interested in one thing and that was not people watching. Puck glared, offended by her response, before speaking again. "I did get a girl pregnant in high school you know; I could recognize the damn signs. I mean, shit Berry, you putting on weight is like Kurt putting on a plaid sweater vest. It just doesn't happen. Add the non-explicable barfing and over-the-top emotions, and you got yourself a bun in the oven. Make that two for you." He added, eyeing the twins again. He added, eyeing the twins again. They gapped at him, surprised by his forwardness.

"Must you be so crude, Noah?" Rachel asked, glaring at the offending man. Puck merely smirked, leaned in towards her and whispered into her ear. Rachel turned red from embarrassment and pushed him away from her. "That was_ years_ ago! And I was in a bad place!" Pick simply laughed, easily sliding back into his usual demeanor.

"Your pretty excuses doesn't explain the first time Berry. You know you wanted me." Rachel's icy comment about only wanting him because his wife had been with the man she actually wanted caused the smirk to slip from his face. The lull in the biting conversation was apt opportunity for the twins.

"Who was the guy you really wanted?" the twins ignored the amused smiles their godfathers got every time they talked in unison, eyes intent on Puck and Rachel. The silence and guilty, shifty-eyed expressions (the guilt partially for forgetting they were there) were enough of answer to their question.

"So your wife dated our dad?" Natalie was the first to make the connection, firing the question at Puck, correctly assuming he would be the weaker target.

"I never said that."

"You didn't have to," Natalie responded. Puck shot a quick 'help me!' look at an equally nervous looking Rachel. Rachel's daughter was just like her mother had been at her age, strong-willed, intelligent, and determined; in other words, absolutely terrifying. Puck told her that (minus the terrifying part, he didn't feel like being slapped) in hopes of deflecting the conversation to other topics. Natalie was not fooled, "Yes, did you know you didn't answer my question, Noah?" Mini-Rachel was quick to respond.

"Yeah, but considering your mother just might murder me if I made finding your father that damn easy, I'm not going to." Mimi-Rachel had the same crest-fallen look her mother had worn and he almost caved, murderous ex or not. It would seem however, mini-Rachel was only half the problem.

"What did you say your last name was?" the question was stated carefully. Blaine had learned from his godfather that to gain useful information, it was best to ask the questions in indirect ways that made it seem that he was merely interested in the person.

"I didn't, why?" short and suspicious. Blaine played the child-t-adult card.

"Because my mother always taught me and my sister to address adults with 'Mr.' or 'Mrs.' and their last name unless otherwise asked. We can't do that if we only know your first name." he prayed he was the only one to see the smirk Uncle Blaine sent his way, otherwise it would be obvious.

"You can just deal with calling me Puck. I don't deal with all the polite bullshit, anyway." Puck didn't know if mini-Finn had inherited his mother's intelligence or his father's lack-there-of but he wasn't taking any chances.

"Don't you have to be going, Noah? No need to keep the misses waiting, is there?" Rachel politely cut in and gestured to the waitress that had been standing with his take-out for a good ten minutes. To say that she was relieved that Puck already knew of her children was an understatement but she still did not want to have the painful conversation they would undoubtedly come to and especially not in front of her children.

With a promise erected from Rachel about the situation at a more private time (twins heard it as 'without the children'), Puck was gone. Rachel sighed in relief, sliding into her seat further before gaining her bearings and sitting ram-rod straight again. Her children giggled at her and she shot them a glare. They immediately looked away, Natalie daintily cutting a piece of her spinach and cheese ravioli, Blaine shoving more chicken cacciatore in his mouth. Rachel sighed again.

"Finish eating and we will go home. We need to have a talk." She had never seen her children eat faster in her life.

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Short, I know, but I wanted to save the talk for next chapter, because I think it would fit better in that one. I kind of have an idea as to where the story will go from here, but really I'm just playing by ear. Also think you all (meaning the 10 or so people who actually read this continually) are lucky because originally I was only going to update one chapter a week. Now its one a day. VERY lucky. I kind of liked how I did Puck (him knowing and all that jazz) but I could use your input about it. Until next time, then.


	8. Chapter 8

The small family sat together in the spacious living room in a tension-filled silence. Rachel sat in the rocking chair Blaine had bought her right before the twins were born, her fingers fiddling with the chiseled figures that ran in patterns throughout the wood. Directly across from her sat her two children, both now fifteen, both looking at her with anxious, excited eyes. Kurt and Blaine sat in the love seat, in between the two groups, almost as a median. They had offered to leave the three to their privacy but Rachel had demanded they stay as they were, like it or not, a major part of the family. The emotional support they could lend to Rachel was left unsaid.

"When I accepted the job at the community college, I thought I knew what I was getting into. I knew coming back to Lima was dangerous, if I wanted to keep this all," she paused to take a shaky breath, her fingers running through a particularly large groove, refusing to make eye contact with either child, "quiet, I guess is the right word." She said finally, looking up briefly at the two. The looks on their faces hadn't changed much, more confused than before, but the excitement had not left. If they were bothered by their mother admitting to keeping them hush-hush for so long they did not show it.

"A large part of me still did. It was easier in New York, where I had you two, safe and warm with food to eat and a nice home, I had my parents, accepting and helpful and the best grandparents ever, they've spoiled you two so much," the words were flowing now, easier to say and a small smile graced her lips when she thought of her fathers, "and Kurt and Blaine, also spoiling you, but also being there for companionship for me. Strength from home where I thought I was alone. I knew they surely didn't approve of my decision, but they stood by me and that –"her voice cracked a little, and she looked down ashamed. She wanted to be strong for this and she was already losing it.

Kurt reached over and squeezed her hand softly. "We would have been there no matter what, Rach, you know that. Even if you were running off to Guatemala, I and Blaine would have been right beside you in your horrible animal sweaters." Rachel gave a watery laugh and squeezed his hand back, giving a wordless thanks. He kept his hand in hers as she looked back at her children. They stared back at her, concern replacing the excitement, wordlessly telling her if she couldn't do it would be okay. She smiled, a little sadly this time, and continued.

"That meant a lot," another squeeze and Blaine walked up and sat on the arm of the chair, putting a comforting arm around her. "But I also realized that it wasn't fair for you two, not fair that you never got to learn about my past, your father, all of these things I robbed from you out of some stupid fear, and I couldn't do it anymore. Not at the expense of my children, never at the expense of my children." When had breathing been so hard for her? "So I came back. I enrolled you in the same school that I had, same teachers and all. I didn't tell them why I was there, that stayed with Mr. Figgins. I was too ashamed at what I had done, just running away from my problems to a place no one knew of me. It was easy, too easy, and I've regretted it. All of it." Rachel felt bitter tears fall, but unlike the years before, she just let them fall as they may, coating her face with two shiny lengths down her face.

"What are you getting at, mom?" Blaine was quiet, concern flitting through his voice. He wanted to know what his mother had to say, but tears had always been a weakness for him, and seeing his mother, tears falling down without cease, scared him. His mother merely gave him another one of her watery little smiles and continued the story.

"I am getting at the biggest regret of my life, Blaine." A surprised look from Blaine and a quiet gasp from Kurt, neither of them had expected her to give the twins this much information. She breathed deeply, closing her eyes before continuing. "Not telling your father I was pregnant." The silence was deafening and she clenched her eyes shut tighter. Two warm bodies tightly hugging her a second later was not what she was expecting, but she hugged back with the same intensity.

"It's okay, mom, it's okay. You don't have to continue if you don't want to. Me and Blaine will wait, we will always wait, mom." Rachel shook a little before pulling back, shaking her head in the negative, she would continue this, even if it killed her. She'd already made the decision, now she just needed the strength.

"The rest is easier, some background information as to why I never did, and then, of course telling you who he is." Sounds of surprise from Kurt and Natalie, looks from both Blaines. Rachel chuckled, albeit a little watery. "I've kept it from you both for so long, so afraid to tell you. But you guys going back to the school I went to, Puck showing up at Breadstix, it made me realize I wouldn't be able to hide it from you anymore. And I certainly didn't want you to learn from a third party, someone you don't even know. It wouldn't be fair, you wouldn't know him like I did." She shook her head as the memories of Finn poured in. She bit her lip thoughtfully, as her children sat back down across from her and Blaine squeezed her shoulders, wondering where to begin.

"I guess the story really starts a year before I got pregnant, when he was with his first girlfriend. He was the star quarterback, so it was only fitting that he dated the head cheerleader. At least, that was the excuse they used. I don't think either of them were what you can call 'happy'. I didn't even know they were dating until your father joined Glee. We were about to watch Vocal Adrenaline play when he told me. I really liked him at the time, so I was pretty devastated. We were always paired together for Glee ensembles so I felt we had really connected." Kurt snorted amusedly and she shot him a mock glare. Truthfully, the laughter he gave lightened the situation, and Blaine and her children were giving her amused smiles. It was just like Rachel to over-exaggerate relationships like that.

"Her name was Quinn Fabray, just so you know, she's the Mrs. Puckerman that you were talking about Natalie, and she hated me. And I do mean that, it's not some hyperbole I've made up in my mind looking back at high school. I never knew what I did to her, but as long as I was in high school, Quinn Fabray had hated me. She through the first slushy in my face, drew pornographic images of me on the bathroom stalls, wrote my name and number down on the boy's bathroom wall with 'call for a good time' written by it, and other things. She hated the Glee Club, though I don't know why, but when your father joined it, she was in as well." She took a breath to calm herself, thinking on what to say next.

"I never gave up on your father, but I made a mistake that caused the Glee Club to suffer and Mr. Schuester switched me and Quinn, I in the back, her singing lead with your father. It was a place that I shined, yet Quinn found a way to take it from me. Even in something she hated at the time, she was determined to be the best at it, the front role. A new opportunity came and I quit New Directions to be the star in the school play. I was miserable, seeing as the director of it was a horrible, self-centered man who would yell at me until I couldn't stop crying, and I missed my glee family. Still, I kept up the front, saying I was happy and everything, because I didn't want to admit I was wrong. That was a fault of mine, I can admit that." Another breath, she could do this.

"Until, at least, your father came to 'hang out'. We had been friends in glee and he swore everyone missed me. I thought it kind of strange, I mean, your father was always trying to please everyone at the school and stay popular so we had never really talked openly like we did that day. Quinn must have hated it. He took me bowling, which I was horrible at," Blaine scoffed, asking her if much was different. She glared at her son but lost when he smiled _that _smile at her. She caved, giving him a small smile before continuing.

"I don't know whether it was the heat of the moment, or impulse, or whatever, but when I got my first strike, he kissed me." Kurt's eyes widened and she remembered, guiltily, that she had never told him that part. "I came back to glee after that, but only for one day. When I got into the choir room, it was buzzing. Everyone was standing by the piano, gossiping heatedly. It was Kurt who told me the news. President of the celibacy club, princess of the chastity ball Quinn Fabray had gotten herself knocked up, and her boyfriend was the father." Rachel kind of enjoyed the shocked looks of her children. Not unexpected, it was Natalie who spoke first.

"We have a _step_-sibling somewhere?" she sounded incredulous and her face spoke of sheer surprise. It darkened a little when Kurt, Blaine, and Rachel laughed.

"Not really, I'm getting to that part, if you would not interrupt," Rachel watched amusedly as her daughter promptly shut her mouth and sat rim-rod straight. "I eventually joined again, after I slapped your father across the face in the school hallway," Rachel smiled at that particular memory, and Kurt laughed again. "Quinn had stopped coming to practices, once she found out that everyone in glee knew and I decided to help her. I talked to her, telling her how we truly cared for her and that she wouldn't be wearing that little cheerleader uniform for much longer, because as soon as Coach Sylvester found out, she would be gone. She asked me why I was being so nice to her. I will never forget what I said to her," she stopped again, closing her eyes for a moment before beginning.

"I told her that 'no one should have to go through this alone' before walking away. She told me, as I walked away, that she would have tortured me if the roles were reversed, I never doubted that. She came back, eventually, and before I knew it, what I had told her came true. The school paparazzi found out, and I gave him a pair of my underwear to keep him silent," she shuddered at the memory, "but Coach Sylvester ran into him with them and made him run the story. By morning everyone knew. Quinn was humiliated and then kicked off the cheerleaders, it was horrible. Glee was there for her though, and we became a stronger family. For a while everything was okay, and we geared our attentions to Sectionals. The peace didn't last for long, I can tell you that."

"Not trying to be rude, mom, but this hasn't answered my question at all. The child is our father's isn't it?" Natalie was way into the story, Rachel could tell, and impatient to learn how exactly she did not have some long lost sibling running around somewhere. Rachel shot her an odd look, half amused and half aggravated and she promptly quieted.

"Because, and I was just getting to this, the child wasn't his." Wide eyes told her Natalie wasn't the only one caught up in the story. "Pretty little Quinn had gotten herself knocked up, that is true, but it wasn't Finn who'd done it. Remember the man from Breadstix?" her children nodded, completely immersed, "That's Noah Puckerman your fathers best friend now, and then too. He was known as a bit of a man-whore, and it was well earned. He had slept with Quinn, something she assured him had been a total mistake, but the damage had been done. He knocked up his best friend's girlfriend. I was the one who told your father, I'm not going to lie, I had done it for selfish purposes, but your father had deserved to know."

"Yeah, no one else had the courage to ruin the power couple, I can tell you that." Kurt cut in, wincing at the memories of Finn finding out, "and man, I didn't want to be Puck when _his_ fist repeatedly slammed into his face." Rachel nodded.

"It was horrible. Quinn was crying by the time your father rounded on her, asking if it was true. She answered honestly and Finn lost it a little more. He screamed that he was done with all of us and stormed out of the choir room. He never came back so we had to convince Jacob Ben-Israel, the school paparazzi, to come with us. Sectionals had turned into a disaster, your father was gone, Mr. Schuester had been temporarily disqualified from the competition so we had Miss Pillsbury as chaperone, and as the night droned on we realized that our set list had been leaked. It was chaos by the time we were in the green room. Everyone was blaming the cheerleaders in our group, Santana and Brittany. It turned out Brittany had given it to Coach Sylvester, not knowing what she wanted with it, and that was one mystery solved." She smiled as she thought of little innocent (excluding the bedroom) Brittany.

"And then, in true movie moment fashion, your father showed up. He had been told by Mr. Schuester what was going on and how we needed him, so he drove himself in Mr. Schuester's car all the way down. He'd also picked a song out for us to sing. It was 'You Can't Always Get What You Want' which was quite fitting. We also decided on 'Somebody to Love' and everyone decided I would do the ballad. We delegated the dancing steps to Mike and Brittany and learned it all in that room. It was crazy. I sang 'Don't Rain on My Parade' and led the club in. We rocked our performances and won that day. It was invigorating, to be honest." She smiled, loosing herself temporarily into the excitement of that day, thinking of Finn's arms around her as they hugged.

"For a few weeks after that, I and your father dated. Then he broke it off deciding he wanted to explore his 'inner rock star' with a double date with Brittany and Santana. I was quite upset and because of that, I ended up in a relationship I still regret. I started to date Jesse St. James despite the Glee Clubs warnings. He was a spy, but he also brought me to my mother, and you both know how that ended up." She gestured to the twins who nodded.

"After that fiasco, he safely went back to Vocal Adrenaline, but not before throwing eggs at me with his friends in the school parking lot. The glee club was furious and your father and Puck got into serious trouble for slitting the tires of all the Vocal Adrenaline member's cars. It was also in this time that your father lost his virginity to Santana and lied to me about it, which later will prove very important. After that whole fiasco, we had regionals. Your father had been trying to get me back almost as soon as we had separated and right before we ran out to do the duet we had together for the completion, he told me he loved me. It was sweet and romantic and we began dating right after. We lost regionals that year but Coach Sylvester ended up blackmailing Mr. Figgins to grant us another year." She thought of the coach then, her over-all intimidating demeanor but her occasional soft spots and how she had been one hell of a coach.

"I and your father dated all summer without too much drama, at least until just around sectionals of our sophomore year. We had just –"she paused, blushing a little, trying to think of a delicate way to say it, "I had just conceived you two, I guess would be the way to say it." She was blushing red now as Kurt and Blaine snickered. "And I had thought it had been the first time for both of us. That was until, Santana herself, in a moment of spite, told me her and Finn had done the same the last year. I was so mad at him, and in inspired a huge fight. In retaliation, I kissed Puck who had just recently managed to begin a shaky friendship with your father. I regretted it right after it happened, and I told your father as soon as we were talking again and he broke it off with me." She teared up a little as she thought of the breakup.

"I found out I was pregnant with you after that, but your father was already back with Quinn, which hurt a lot. I tried to get him back for a while, but when I found out about you two, I stopped. We won regionals that year, and I told the Glee Club I was moving after Nationals, which gave me a month with them. I couldn't stay. I couldn't steal Finn's happiness from him like Quinn did the year before." She heard the sharp intakes of breath from the twins when they heard their father's name for the first time.

"Your father is Finn Hudson. Kurt's stepbrother, in fact." The twins were silent, Rachel was grateful. They stayed like that for a while, letting themselves come to terms with what just happened. Rachel crying a little at the reopened wounds talking to the twins had given her, Kurt in Blaine for politeness, and the twins at the sudden knowledge they had been given.

"Wow." Blaine said finally and, they didn't know quite why, perhaps just because of the sheer emotions floating around, but everyone began laughing nonstop. Just laughing until the tears fell from their eyes and they were on the floor. Rachel didn't know the last time she had let go like this and, despite the dull pain in her chest that would never completely go away, she felt wonderful. There was only one thing left to discuss.

"Since you both know the truth now, I think the others at the school should too." Everyone's eyes snapped to her, "tomorrow, after school, neither of you are allowed to come home until you've both auditioned for Glee Club and Puck's allowed Blaine unto the football team. You got it?" Rachel smiled mischievously at the gob smacked faces around her. "We might as well let it all out with a bang, shouldn't we?" she smiled again and the twins mirrored it.

"I have just the songs for the two of you." Kurt joined in, his own little smirk planted firmly on his lips. He had an idea that, if done properly, would leave Mr. Schuester and all old glee members at the school in shock. It was going to be wonderful.

* * *

Longest chapter in the story, and with good reason. I think this is one of the most important chapters so far, and kind of sets the rest of the story into motion. I like how it turned out, even though it was just a bunch of talking really, and I hope you did to. Tell me what you thought! And I will be back tomorrow (figuratively speaking of course).


	9. Chapter 9

Santana Lopez-Pierce was not what you would call a 'patient' woman. Quite the opposite in fact, when in high school she would be the last to cheer practice, simply because she hated to wait for the others to get there. She was not sure what in her right mind caused her to want a child, to which you had to be patient in teaching it to walk, talk, use the bathroom and not its pants, but she did. Perhaps it came down to her wife, Brittany. She had been adamant for quite a while to have a child and Santana, after babysitting Puck's brat Abigail, had to agree that not all children were the spawns of Satan sent here to over-rule the world. After some more persuasion from Brittany (which may or may not have involved refraining from Santana's more preferred activities) Santana had caved.

She had expected herself, this afternoon, to be interviewing potential fathers for her child. Not sitting in the McKinley choir room with her wife, old (and crazy) choir teacher, and old classmates Puck and Preggers, waiting around for some brats that looked like the unholy offspring of Rachel Berry. Not that the damned prude would have any children, she'd probably be a virgin longer than Mr. Schuester's OCD wife. Santana's thoughts drifted from her old torture doll to slight anger at having to wait around for the stupid children to get here.

Mr. Schuester didn't know why he had called all of the old members around the school in here for the audition. Technically, New Directions weren't supposed to practice today, but Natalie had come up to him, begging for auditions for her and her brother to be held today. She had told him how their mother needed them home the rest of the week for unpacking. The reasoning side had outmaneuvered the compassionate side of him and he had been about to tell her no when the words of Santana and Brittany came roaring back. Ultimately, he agreed to the auditions being today, mainly so he could put the rest the burning curiosity about Blaine Berry. He doubted the boy could look that much like Finn Hudson, but needed to see for himself. This is how he had gotten into this mess, waiting forever for the two to get there.

"Sorry! Sorry we're late! Our uncle needed to speak with us, it was very important!" Natalie came rushing into the room, a tall figure non to far behind. Mr. Schuester's response of it being okay fell from his lips when he caught a good look at the boy. Standing no less than six feet even, with the same gangly arms, bright eyes and dark hair stood a fifteen year old Finn Hudson. The boy shuffled his feet embarrassedly when he noticed Mr. Schuester's stare.

"Can we just get on with this? Britt and I have potential baby daddies to interview." Santana's icy tone snapped Mr. Schuester out of his daze.

"Yeah and me and Puck have to pick Abby up from my mother's soon, so she can get to her woman's worship group on time." Quinn interjected, lips pursed and arms folded in a way that clearly told everyone in the room just how annoyed she was at the moment. Natalie flushed and apologized again and Santana told her quite forwardly to cut the shit and get on with it. From Natalie's surprised look and Blaine's amused little smile, Mr. Schuester knew they didn't hear such forwardness often.

"I don't mean to rush you both, but we all are really in a hurry, so if you don't mind…?" Mr. Schuester trailed off, not exactly comfortable with the current situation. A mini-Finn and a mini-Rachel was standing directly in front of him and his mind seemed to be quite close to going into extreme overdrive.

"Umm, well we could do a duet for you, I guess." Natalie offered, feeling self conscious about her singing for once. In front of her sat a good chunk of her mother's (and father's) old glee club and the man who coached them all, and none of them, until this week, knew she and her brother existed. Now, with a few carefully orchestrated steps from Uncle Kurt, they were about to blow their mother's secret right out of the water. It was enough to scare Idina Menzel get stage fright.

"It's kind of weirdly romantic but it's the only one we know. Our mother used to play it all the time in our house, so we learned it for her when we were ten. She always loved it when we performed, and we don't know any other," Blaine interjected. He also felt self conscious but it had little to do with the secret they were about to uncover. To be quite honest with himself, he was happy it was about to all come out, but the looks he was getting from Mr. Schuester was starting to worry him somewhat. Did he have something all his face?

"That's fine, I'm sure it will be lovely." Mr. Schuester gave the go-ahead and Natalie turned to give the old piano man the sheet music. He passed it to the rest of the band, and the music started, soft and melodic. Mr. Schuester was shocked to find that he recognized it with ease. The other adults around him shared the same sentiment. As he expected from the moment the music started, Blaine stepped forward and began the song.

"Highway run into the midnight sun. Wheels go round and round, you're on my mind," his voice was soft, a little rough but amazing. It was like listening to Finn sing it all over again, and from the gasps rebounding around him, he wasn't the only one to make the connection.

"Restless hearts sleep alone tonight. Sending all my love along the wire," If Blaine was good, Natalie was great. Her voice was strong, rebounding around the room even as it was kept quiet. Rachel Berry flashed through his mind.

"They say that the road ain't no place to start a family .Right down the line it's been you and me and loving a music man ain't always what it's supposed to be…." They sang together, turning towards each other, trying hard not to crack a smile of amusement at the shell-shocked faces of the adults. They were in a performance and that would be inappropriate, no matter far Mr. Schue's jaw fell.

"Oh boy, you stand by me," Natalie cut in through the lyrics, gesturing wide with her arms. Blaine stifled a laugh.

"I'm forever yours...faithfully," soft voices again, and they both tried not to crack a grin. It was becoming increasingly harder as they sang the sickeningly sweet lyrics to each other.

"Circus life under the big top world," Natalie stepped from her brother, closer to Mr. Schuester and the others, arms wide again in a gesture of grandeur. It was something Rachel was known for and something her daughter had inherited.

"We all need the clowns to make us smile." Blaine stepped forward to stand by his sister, singing the words together with her.

"Through space and time," Natalie's voice rang out, Blaine's echoing behind. The adults seemed to have recovered slightly, and Quinn watched with narrowed eyes. Fitting that she would be the first to realize (not counting Puck).

"Always another show. Wondering where I am, lost without you and being a part ain't easy on this love affair. Two strangers learn to fall in love again. I get the joy of rediscovering you…" Back to each other. Natalie thought with an inward giggle that the thoughts made them seem like another cheesy Old Spice commercial.

"Oh girl, you stand by me!" Blaine caught in like Natalie had done earlier, twirling around his sister playfully. Santana's eyes widened slightly, and Blaine grinned. Another had realized then. Time to finish up and hope Mr. Schuester would realize before they had to explain. He had decided (rather intuitively) that Brittany realizing would be a lost cause.

"I'm forever yours...faithfully," soft again and this time they both rounded around the piano, teasing each other and the adults, before settling in front again and belting out the next line. Both noticed, with inward Cheshire grins, that Mr. Schuester had finally come to the conclusion.

"Oh oh oh oh, oh oh oh oh oh. Oh oh oh oh oh oh..." their voices intermingled and Natalie had to admit, it had a powerful feel to it. She could only imagine what it would have sounded like when their parents sang it, newly found in their love as they were. Instead of turning to each other as Natalie belted out the last line, Blaine joining in at the end:

"Faithfully. I'm still yours, faithfully…" the last few notes trickled out as they caught their breaths, staring at adults a little wearily. Their pale faces stared back and as Mr. Schuester opened his mouth to talk, in a true movie moment, Blaine's doppelganger walked in, bent on surprising his old Glee coach and favorite teacher. As to be expected, all Hell broke loose.

* * *

So not very long, considering the lyrics part, but nice. I decided on the duet because that just seems like the most obvious Finn and Rachel moment that anyone could recognize it. I'm sorry it's kind of late but I had a lot of homework to do first (I am in school) BUT the weekend is coming, so I can probably write a lot during it. I didn't actually plan to write Finn in at the end, but I didn't really have a good way to end the chapter, and well, that truly was a bang like the Berry's wanted. Kurt may or not have planned it. I have not decided. Until next time!


	10. Chapter 10

SORRY! I know I didn't update yesterday, but I had a lot of homework and I was still working on exactly how this would play out... kind of a transition chapter, but I like it.

* * *

Chaos erupted in the classroom. Mr. Schuester and the other adults immediately jumped up, greeting the befuddled man with falsely cheerful salutations, giving him hugs that required him to bend down (and force the twins out of sight) to return. Natalie, although earning to meet her father, grasped Blaine's outstretched hand, and they practically ran past the man as they shot some random excuse to explain their sudden departure. Part of Natalie wanted to turn back, to go back into the choir room and tell that man she was his daughter. Another part, however, flashed her mother's scared and tear-stained face back and forth in her mind and she kept following her brother outside and into the parking lot. There they stopped.

"What the _hell_?" Blaine was not in quite as good of a mood as he had been when Uncle Kurt explained to them why they had to be late for the audition. He had been all gung-ho about how they would tell Mr. Schuester who they were, but his father? Even though he knew his father hadn't known about them, a frightening large part of him still resented him. After all, had he not been around the same pregnant woman as Noah Puckerman. He had recognized the signs, why couldn't his father?

"I don't know, Blaine, a freak occurrence?" Blaine wasn't sure of his sister was being serious or sarcastic, but he didn't bother trying to find out. Instead, he grabbed her hand again and pulled her along out of the parking lot and into the street that led into their neighborhood. Even as Natalie made step with him, he didn't drop her hand and she didn't pull away from his. Their mother swore he got the strange habit from Uncle Kurt, but he always avidly denied it when asked. Either way, from a practically infancy, he had treasured the feel of another hand to hold. Doubly so if he was nervous or upset, at the moment, it was nerves at almost meeting the man who helped create him and worry for his mother when she undoubtedly found out about it.

Uncle Blaine opened the door before they could, and his soft smile dropped from his face when he saw the two. It would seem, from their faces that the plan hadn't worked quite right. The two silently walked past him and into the living room, where Kurt sat daftly flipping through the pages of an old photo album of some sort. Rachel sat next to him, laughing at something or another as they conversed in low conspiracy voices. From the look on his mother's face, she did not worry about the day; Blaine was upset to ruin it for her.

"Mom?" Natalie decided to speak up as her mother, lost in whatever memories they were visiting, didn't notice them walk in. Rachel looked up, a small frown shaping into her lips as she stared in to her children's faces. She sat up and patted on the floor as a gesture for them to join her and the other two.

"What's wrong, sweetie?" her mother's voice was sweet and unassuming.

"I –I" Natalie bit her lip, unsure how to explain it, "Dad came in after our audition today," she blurted finally. Her mother blinked, once, twice, before her and Kurt burst into laughter. It wasn't soft, or shocked laughter, but full out, clutching sides that damn funny laughter. When Uncle Blaine gave them a sorry, but amused smile, Natalie and Blaine felt even more out of the loop. Once they had calmed down some-what, Rachel lightly hit Kurt on the shoulder.

"I thought you told them! They were probably freaked out all the way home!" Kurt faked hurt, clutching his shoulder in mock pain, before cracking another amused smile at Rachel, which caused her to laugh a little again. Blaine cleared his throat slightly, and Kurt turned towards him and Natalie and gave them an apologetic smile.

"Your mother," glare from Rachel, "that is to say, your mother and I, really couldn't think of any proper way to tell your father about you, so we – I decided to call him up and tell him visiting Mr. Schuester today after school would be a really good idea. Technically, I was supposed to tell you guys when I was on the phone with you, as a warning, but I forgot." He flashed another apologetic smile at his niece and nephew as they gawked at him. With incredulous looks on their faces, they turned to their mother.

"So, you _knew_?" Rachel nodded guiltily and gestured at the photo album. There, on the ground, were pictures of their mother's old Glee club. In the middle, stood her and their father, beaming at the camera with bright, happy smiles, their hands inconspicuously touching at their sides.

"I wanted to show you these, after all of last night, and the supposed-to-be discovery of your father-"here she paused to stare pointedly at Kurt, "but someone _decided_ to change things." She handed the album to her children, who currently didn't know whether to be angry because their mother hadn't warned them, or happy at the fact that their mother had tried hard to get their father to them. Flipping the photo album to see a picture of her mother being twirled by their father, they settled on happy, and began asking questions.

Rachel answered every question, a warm feeling spreading in her chest and flowing through the rest of her. In at most an hour, she would have people storming her house, yelling and screaming, mostly at her, and probably leaving her in tears, but for now, she sat in peace with her family, discussing the happiest moments of her life.

* * *

Finn could honestly say he had never been this confused in his entire life, and that included the sad five months of sophomore year when he thought it possible to impregnate a woman through the tepid waters of a hot tub. He currently sat on a plastic maroon chair in a room he had spent many time in high school in, in front of his old teacher, best friend, best friend's wife, and two of his old glee members. They currently stared back at him worriedly, hands wringing, as their words kept reverberating through his head.

_"Rachel Berry has twin children, about fifteen years old, the boy looks like you." "The boy looks like you." "The boy is a split image." "He looks like you." "He is your doppelganger." "He's a clone." "Rachel had children." "Rachel has kids." "She got knocked up." "A girl and a boy, twins." "The girl looks just like Rachel, but…."_

"_**The boy looks like you." **_

_**

* * *

**_Kind of a cliff-hanger, just a little bit though. I liked the idea of Kurt planning it, but I thought that would be extremely cruel to Rachel, so I brought her into the master-plan as well. Also, the different phrasings of the same thing at the end, that's how it keeps going through Finn's head, different but still the same. I liked the ending, but you were probably wanting a heart-felt and or heart-wrenching reunion of some front didn't you? Well, you will have to wait until next time. _**  
**_


	11. Chapter 11

Quinn Puckerman couldn't remember the last time she had been so mad. Right now, she could honestly say she wanted to kill Rachel Berry, ring her neck until she was blue in the face. How dare she do this? Berry was so damned selfish that when she got pregnant she just whisked them away, away from their father and into a new life where _she _could be happy. It was selfish and cruel, and totally something Rachel Berry would do. Care only for herself, and do what only she wanted.

Right now, as she watched her first love and closest friend break try to figure out what they were trying to tell him, Quinn Puckerman wanted to tear that selfish bitch Rachel Berry into a thousand pieces and feed them to her dog. Right now, as she stood before her closest friend, and watched as her friend broke down into tears as he realized what they told him, she wanted to kill her, but first she wanted answers.

* * *

Santana Lopez-Pierce had been many things in high school: cheerleader, bitch, slut, lesbian (she really was only bisexual though), and glee member. She had not, however, ever been called or been a hypocrite. That's why, instead of the supposedly righteous anger teen mom Quinn had, she felt an odd mixture of awe and pity for one Rachel Berry. To have found out she was pregnant by her then ex-boyfriend who couldn't forgive her for kissing another man and have to watch him get back together with the girl who had sex with his best friend and then paraded the bastard child of as his, Santana knew it would have been heart-breaking. To then decide to leave all that she had known, in order to raise her children in an environment that would prove beneficial and safe, all by herself no less, Santana couldn't have done it.

Santana would have raged at the world and screamed and blamed everyone but herself. She would have demanded the attention of the father, the support of him, and maybe even marriage even if they would divorce once the children were born, just so she wouldn't have bastards. She wouldn't have the courage to leave, to willingly sacrifice the last of her childhood so that the man she loved could have the rest of his unmarred.

Santana Lopez-Pierce was many things, but no hypocrite. That's why, when Quinn watched Finn with storming eyes, she decided that she herself admired Berry, for the strength no one else had. As she watched through her own eyes and Quinn's, Finn break down into tears as he realized there were two people in the world he should have been there for, she still felt the admiration but she also realized something, something she was sure everyone else did to, the moment they realized Rachel couldn't trust them. She wanted to know why.

* * *

Brittany Lopez-Pierce normally was confused, confused about why the sky was blue or why no one else saw the little wonders of the world like she did, but at the moment, she was crystal clear. She wondered why Quinn was so mad, or why Sanny looked awed. It was a sad thing really, that Rachel went raising the children by herself for fifteen years. She understood now, why Rachel had seemed so forlorn the last days she had ever saw her. Why she seemed close to tears every time she looked at Finn. It all made sense. What didn't was why Quinn looked angry, or Santana humbled, because Brittany felt sadness. For Natalie and Blaine for never knowing their father, for Rachel for raising the children alone, and, as she watched Finn start crying, for Finn for never meeting his children.

Brittany knew she wasn't the sharpest pencil in the box and the simplest things confused her, but in this she understood. Rachel had raised children all by herself, because she was strong like that, and it was horrible, sad affair all the way around, and Finn was the only one who truly realized it, she noticed when he looked up at her for the briefest of moments. What Brittany wanted to know, was how Rachel got through it.

* * *

Noah Puckerman could honestly say that this moment where he felt so nervous that he was going to puke had only been felt a handful of times. When he had found out Quinn Fabray was pregnant sophomore year, when he asked her to marry him at graduation, and when his baby girl was about to be born. He couldn't say there was any shock, he had known since high school, but he was nervous as soon as he saw Finn walk through that door. When they told him about the children, he was nervous at the flash of anger that pierced Quinn's eyes, at the glimmer of awe in Santana's, but most of all, he was nervous as soon as the tears started to fall down Finn's face.

Noah had only felt so downright shitty once in his life; when he had gotten his best friend's girlfriend knocked up and didn't even have the balls to tell him. That had made him feel like a right ass and now, fifteen years after Rachel Berry walked out of their lives, he felt it again. He felt it for not telling Finn as soon as he noticed, for keeping it from everyone for years, and he felt it for not trying to stop Rachel, for not grabbing her into a hug, and holding her until the tears flowed. He felt it for a lot of reasons, and he wanted it to stop. He didn't know how, but he was going to make it stop.

* * *

William Schuester prided himself on a lot of things. His organization for one, for even when he was a newly declared bachelor after that whole baby debacle he had kept his little apartment as clean as possible, for another, the acute ability to sense when something was wrong with his students. All except for one, apparently. Maybe Rachel Berry was great at hiding things behind that flashy show smile she always wore, or perhaps he didn't pay enough attention to her, but when her children got in front of him and sang their hearts out, he realized something had escaped his notice.

Now, fifteen years since he watched Rachel Berry walk out with a simple hug and insincere apologies about her having to go, as he watched Finn Hudson cry his heart out for something he just realized he had, he realized how big that something was. Rachel Berry, he had not gone a day without that name flashing his mind, small body but big voice, loud and proud, with the talent to back it all up. She had been amazing and, he thought, wore her heart on a sleeve. He had always thought about things that had escaped his notice, the longing, worried looks Puck would give Quinn throughout her pregnancy, how the baby bump on Terry was just suddenly there one day and never grew more, the slightly worsening abuse Kurt faced, and now, but he never thought he'd missed something of Rachel's. She had been so open, and so he never worried about deep secrets. Now, as he watched Finn slowly stand, and ask stiffly for the twin's address which Will would have to get out of their folder, he knew he would go with Finn, just like the others, for answers. Specifically, how on Earth Rachel Berry could have played such a poker face that no one knew.

* * *

Finn was a mess of swirling emotions. Shock first, children? Rachel? It just confused him, they had only had sex once, they had broken up almost right after, and they had most definitely used protection then, so how did it happen? Anger next, how dare Rachel keep this from him? He knew they kept secrets from each other, Rachel's fear of abandonment had never been discussed (though he suspected because of her mother), or Finn's hatred of all things camo. But this? To keep this from him was cruel, wrong; they were his_ children _for god's sake. And she kept them from him for the better half of fifteen years, but why? Why had she done that, was she afraid he wouldn't be there?

And then, sadness fell in and he broke down, sobbing into his hands. He knew Quinn would think they were angry tears, and perhaps some of it was, and Santana was looking at him weirdly so he didn't know what she thought. Mr. Schue's gaze was pitying and Puck wasn't looking at him, but he knew only Brittany understood. Only she got that the tears weren't for him, but for Rachel. Why did she go through this alone? He would have been beside in a snap of her finger, so _why? _Why did she always feel she had to go alone, to balance the world on her shoulders and then twirl away before anyone could help her?

The last feeling was desire. Desire to see his children for the first time, and undoubtedly to see the love he had lost in high school when she danced away to face the world. But most of all, when he stood up, the tears still falling but determination etched in his face, he wanted the answers to his questions. He wanted to know _why _and damned to hell if he didn't get them. He knew the others did too, and that they deserved them, so he didn't say anything when they followed him out the parking lot, with their own cars, and drove with him to Rachel Berry's house. His children's house.

* * *

Rachel knew they were there before the knocking rounded through the house. She had heard the soft squeal of car tires along the gravel outside long before the others looked up, half panicked, half excited. She fought down the wild urge to tell the others to be quiet and ignore the people at the door until they gave up, and instead stood. She was done running, she knew that, and she had come this far, she wasn't going to start now.

She smiled in an attempt to reassure the others, but from the concerned look Kurt shot her, she doubted it was convincing. Still, they sat up silently and watched her walk in the foyer without a word, and she was grateful. With a long, comforting breath, she thrust the door open quickly, before she could back out and came face to face with the man she had been avoiding for over a decade.

Finn Hudson stood before her, the same towering height he had been at the last time they saw each other, when they were saying goodbye. Tears had stained his cheeks, but steely determination had all but erased the marks and he looked at her with those big brown eyes, questioning, and she almost broke down right then and there. Behind him stood the others. Quinn stood, anger in her eyes, and Rachel fought back the angry thoughts on how much a hypocrite Quinn truly was. Santana stood beside her, a mixture of awe and pity staring at her and Rachel bit her lip, unsure about the emotions that brought on. Beside Santana stood Brittany who smiled at her sadly. Mr. Schuester and Puck took up the back, confusion and guilt stretched across their respective faces.

Rachel fought the urge to slam the door, and lock it. She had promised herself not to run and by damned she had come this far. So, she gently stood aside and let the group in, gesturing the right, where the living room was. She knew what they would find in there, Kurt and Blaine sitting beside their godchildren, two more people who had been lying to them. And Finn would find his children, children that he knew not of until today. And she knew what she would find, anger and disgust. And she knew she would deserve it. She silently followed them into the living room, prepared for the destruction of life as she knew it.

For the revulsion and hatred that could flourish in the soils of the situation.

* * *

Yeah, so another kind of cliffhanger although I know you guys hated the last one. It's kind of more a snapshot of everyone's feelings and a prelude to the actual confrontation than a chapter, but I thought it was necessary so that it could all make sense. Please tell me what you thought, and I hope you enjoyed it! See you next time.


	12. Chapter 12

Finn stood at the doorway to the living room, shocked. Rachel stood by his side, subconsciously shifting her weight from left to right, her hand twitching as if to direct him into a seat. Finn still stood frozen, eyes not leaving the face of his brother, even though said brother's eyes were currently situated on his lap, hand clasped with his boyfriend's, and shame coloring his cheeks. Finn didn't think he would be able to take any more surprises after this day. Eventually the others got over their shock and temporary paralysis and squeezed onto the love seat, Puck and Brittany sitting on the armrests, and he too took a seat in the vacant chair, and waited for someone to start. Not surprisingly, Kurt did.

"Look, Finn, I know this looks really, really bad, and I should have told you about all this," Kurt was rambling, which was never a good sign for Finn, "but when Rachel told me about the twins, she was sixteen and _terrified_. And you were with Quinn, and happy, and Rachel was leaving, and me and Blaine tried to get her to stay and tell you, we really did. But she wasn't having it, and left, but she asked us to be the godfathers, and I always hoped that she would come to this decision, and I'm so sorry. Please, please don't be too angry," Kurt looked ashamed and sincerity colored his voice, so Finn nodded.

"It's- it's okay, I think I – I understand why you did it." Finn spoke slowly, measuring his words carefully, "I'm not that mad," he added and Kurt's face cleared somewhat and the twins looked at him with a bit of respect, and he found it easier to ignore Quinn's sharp intake of breath and glare that had transfixed onto his neck.

"How can you be okay with it?" she hissed, the sound reverberating through the living room, "he's lied to you for fifteen years and helped that _bitch _keep your children from you, and you can just forgive him like that? What the _hell_, Finn?" Finn saw, just out of the corner of his eye, Natalie stiffen slightly, and Blaine stand up straighter.

"Because he's my brother and I love him, Quinn. He obviously didn't mean to hurt me, and you know good and well that if he convinced Rachel into staying, it would put inconceivable amounts of stress on Rachel, which would have been detrimental to the children." He was glad Rachel had taught him that word in high school; if only to be used so he could enjoy the gob smacked expression on Quinn's face. She recovered quickly though, and was apparently still hot on the trail.

"So what? Are you just going to forgive_ her_ like that?" the flailing arm gesture to Rachel was unnecessary, given the amount of disgust Quinn had inflicted into the world, "that's ridiculous Finn. Utterly ridiculous, they hurt you and they don't have the decency to be truly sorry. _She_ –"Quinn seemed unable to say Rachel's name, "probably just got tired of taking care of them so she came down here to drop them off on you, or something. Being a teenage mother probably doesn't look good for a Broadway audition!" the twins shared an incredulous look with each other, as if not believing what they were hearing. Blaine was about to stand, but Rachel made quick stride, and gently placed a hand on his shoulder, calming him. Natalie made no sign of an attempt to stop the conversation, but her eyes had narrowed into an expression Finn still found familiar.

"That's not fair Quinn, and you know it. Rachel did what she thought was the best for her, and her children, and I cannot hate her for that. I can't say I could forgive her easily, because they are my children, but I won't sit here and let you talk like she isn't a person. Rachel did something commendable and although I'm sad that she couldn't trust me to help her raise the two," Finn didn't quite feel comfortable saying 'our children', "I admire her for the strength she possessed." Finn took a deep breath and closed his eyes, trying not to think of the look Rachel had sent him. It was thankfulness, sadness, fear and wonder, a thank you and a sorry, all mixed into one and was not helping the mess of emotions Finn felt he had become.

"Your being an idiot Finn!" Quinn wasn't giving up, "she used you! Why can't you realize this? Not only that, she cheated on you! With your best friend! Hell, if wasn't for the fact that one of the bastards looks like you, you probably couldn't say for sure they were yours!" Finn had to wonder when Quinn had become such an avid bitch; she'd been doing so well lately. "Then again, if they weren't yours, we'd probably be sitting here fighting because she told you they _were_, just because it would hurt you. Just because she could, just because she's a cold heartless bitch." Quinn had gone too far.

"Excuse me," Natalie was the perfect façade of serene, her hands clasped lightly onto her lap, and a positively blank expression on her face. Quinn blinked, surprised, but allowed the girl a chance to say her piece. "I don't mean to come off as rude of course, but I feel like I should impress upon several inconsistencies on your argument, for the sake of providing you with positive feedback, and hopefully improve upon your lax debating skills." Finn saw so much of Rachel in that statement that he had to blink back the tears.

Natalie knew how to use her tongue, a soft response, in the gist of helping, a sharp insult. Rachel could say that, if she had not already been prepared for the verbal lashings of Quinn and the others, she would have been excessively proud, but Quinn needed to get it out of her system if they had any chance of a serious, mature conversation, "Natalie," she spoke the name softly, but her daughter recognized the tone. She caught her mother's eye for a moment and deftly shook her head; she wasn't backing down. Rachel didn't want to make her.

"You speak of my mother rudely, savagely in fact, because she got pregnant at the tender age of sixteen, and left for a new town that didn't know who she was, without telling the father, the reasons of which I will denote in a moment," Natalie began slowly to pace the living room floor, her hands clasped behind her back, her voice quiet but powerful; Blaine noticed how his boyfriend had rubbed off on her, she would be an amazing asset to any debate team.

"And yet," she paused there, turning back to her audience, as if only then coming to the conclusion. Quinn was reminded viciously of a cat playing with its food. It wasn't a pleasant thought. "At the even younger age of fifteen, you also experienced the sting of heresy that came from your peers, because of a teenage pregnancy. In fact, if memory serves correctly, it was also my father that you labeled as the father, wasn't it?" Quinn wanted to slap the little Berry bastard upside the head. How dare she bring that up?

"But I believe," another pause. This time her brother and their godfathers were smirking and even some of adults sitting besides Quinn were trying not to smile. "That the child wasn't his, but your current husband. His best friend, in fact." She reached her conclusion, eyebrow raised.

"You have no right to cut into my personal life like that. I made bad decisions then, I'll admit it. But I never tried to hurt anyone like your mother did. She's a selfish, bitchy slut who was and still is only interested in herself." Blaine stood.

"How dare you? You come into my mother's house, and insult her like that?" his voice was low, but murderous, and Quinn felt a trickle of fear, "not only that, but you were probably the biggest, most hypocritical bitch in your high school." Quinn's eyes narrowed and she looked as if she was ever as close to interrupting, but Blaine raised his hand and she quieted. "Actually, you need to get out. We can't possibly have a mature conversation, which at this point everyone needs, with an immature person such as yourself being around. So leave." He folded his hands and gave her a look that clearly said if she didn't leave, he would pick her up and drop her onto the lawn. She glared, waited a bit to see if anyone would stand up for her; when no one did, she huffed and made her way to the door. Blaine fixed his stare on everyone else.

"Anything else before we start or all of you mature enough for this conversation?" Rachel wouldn't admit it, disapproving as she was to insulting people as crudely as her son had just done, but she was proud of him in that moment. The rest of them quickly told him they could handle it, and he sat back down, gesturing to his mother to take the floor.

Rachel stood, faced her old friends, and braced herself for the explanation. She couldn't help the odd thought of their only being five remaining. She entertained herself with thinking of who would be left when this entire sordid affair was finished. Probably only her and the ones that sat to the back of her, but she was already used to that.

* * *

So, part one of the conversation down! I know I kind of made Quinn really bad in this, and she is a good person, blah blah, but that's how she is in this story, so yeah. I hope you enjoyed it, and I will see you next time persons unknown!


	13. Chapter 13

Rachel was shaking from the nerves, staring at the five adults in front of her. Doing this was harder than she ever imagined it to be and the mixed looks on everyone's faces made it all the more difficult. She had expected anger, much like the kind Quinn had held, not the awe that sat on Santana's face, or the sadness etched into Brittany's. She had expected harsh words to be flung at her like a prostitute being stoned, and yet they sat waiting, every bit respectful, for her to speak. Blaine's statement, however had given her an idea on how to start.

"I think," she drawled out, playing for time, "That it would be better if I addressed everyone one at a time, to make sure that all your questions are answered to the best of my ability." Slow nods from all around, they were used to that type of 'problem-solving' from Rachel. She gave them a small smile that didn't quite reach her eyes in return. "Who would like to ask first, then?" Finn should have. Should have gotten it over with and play it by ear from her responses, but he couldn't seem to get his vocal cords to obey his brain's command of speech. In the end, Puck took the spot.

"I guess I should, don't really have that many questions, and I have to get back to Quinn as soon as possible." Rachel nodded, silently wondering what on Earth Noah would have to ask of her. He had already known she was pregnant, and why she had done that, and for Noah there were no deeper questions. "I don't really have that many questions, but I think I should ask some for Quinn, you know, to keep her happy." Puck looked nervous, and maybe a little sad at his wife's behavior. Rachel nodded, ready for the questions.

"Why? Why didn't you tell Finn?" she expected this question, and already had a prepared answer. She just didn't expect it would be this hard for her vocal cords to obey her. She stood frozen for a while, unable to say anything as they all stared questioningly at her. She could feel the eyes of her children and closest friends drilling into her back and took a deep breath before speaking.

"I want to say it was because I was scared," she started out, speaking to the floor, unable to look at them, "because that's simple, and easy. It would be such a nice, convenient little lie and everyone would believe it. That I'm just a scared little brat who cared only for herself," she couldn't stop the bitter tears from falling and was appalled. She didn't want to seem weak and yet, here she was, merely a few sentences in and yet the water works were starting. "But that's not the truth- no matter what everyone thinks!" Passion colored her voice, and she found the strength to meet their gaze. She gained eye contact with Finn and directed the answer to him.

"I didn't want to hurt you; honestly, it was the hardest thing I've ever had to do." The tears were falling again, but she didn't break the contact, speaking directly to Finn. "But, but I couldn't make you go through all that again. I saw you when Quinn was pregnant, and you were miserable! And then the baby wasn't yours and you fell apart, and I couldn't do that to you, not then." Tears were now beginning to run down Finn's face, "I wanted you to stay innocent, to still have your childhood before it all would end. I wanted you to be happy, and I just didn't think you would be, raising two children with a girl you couldn't stand anymore." She finished quietly, eyes falling back down onto the floor. She didn't look up until Brittany had encompassed her into a warm embrace.

"You are the most spectacular brave person in the world Rachel, just amazing. I don't want you to ever, ever think less of yourself. You made the bravest decision you possibly could then and today you made another one. I don't understand why Quinnie was being so mean to you, but I love you and Sanny loves you and we don't ever, ever want you to ever, ever change, okay? Just stay you Rachie, just stay perfect." Rachel wasn't sure if Brittany was just being Brittany or if she really meant what she was saying, but it still made her clutch her harder and cry harder into her shoulder either way.

Puck didn't know how long they sat there, watching Britt hug Rachel as she sobbed into her shoulder, but the minutes passed and he felt like an ass for doing it, but he cleared his throat. He had to ask one more question before he was gone, and he needed to do it fast, Quinn had already texted him a few times and he knew they would have a long and probably loud discussion about all of this as soon as he was beside her.

"I have one more question Rachel, and that's it." He shot Rachel a small, warm smile and she gave him a self conscious, watery one in return. Brittany didn't remove her arms even as Rachel struggled, merely pulling them around the shorter girl's waist and resting her chin lightly on her head. "Will you ever forgive me, Rae?" Puck probably shouldn't have, but he immensely enjoyed the shell-shocked expression Rachel gave him.

"Wha-what?" Rachel found her voice, but not her mind. Why would Puck want forgiveness? He hadn't wronged her.

"I knew and I didn't say anything. I knew and I never said a goddamn word and for that I'm sorry, so so sorry and I doubt I can ever really forgive myself. It's hands down one of the stupidest things I've ever done. That and let my wife go psycho bitch all over you has left me feeling pretty damn shitty and I totally understand if you never forgive me and all. I was supposed to be there for you, as a brother, and I wasn't –"Rachel cut him off with a warm hug, breaking from Brittany to do so. He could feel her wet tears through his cotton shirt and wrapped his arms around her as she mumbled words he could only half hear. He did get the gist of them though and pulled her tighter. "Of course you're like a sister to me Rae, you'll my hot Jewish-American Queen and that would never change." She laughed and pulled away from him and he grinned.

"I gotta go, before Quinn starts threatening divorce," he gestured to his phone, "but now that I know where you leave I'll probably be stopping around to get to know my honorary niece and nephew," he nodded to the two who gave him smiles in return. They said goodbyes and Puck parted from the group in better grace than his wife. Santana turned to Rachel.

"Britt and I have to interview baby daddies so we will go next." Rachel wasn't surprised at the way Santana completely disregarded the others and took the spot for her own. Rachel nodded, a little apprehensive at what Santana would ask. Would she start off on a lecture or a demand to know why she had been so scared or something equally horrible?

"Where did you get the strength to walk away?" that Rachel wasn't expecting.

* * *

Kind of short and a little fluffy, but after the whole Quinn debacle, I wanted to put a more tame one in. The next one will be kind of tame as well, but then it's Finn and Mr. Schuester, which will both be pretty emotional. After those chapters, I have two or three more planned and that will be the end! Until next time, then!


	14. Chapter 14

Rachel's eyes were the size of saucers and if they had been in any other situation Kurt would have been laughing about it. He, of course, was probably just as surprised as she was, but after the last – he covertly checked his phone – hour and a half he had learned relatively well to control his facial expressions. The lull in conversation continued as Rachel struggled to find an adequate answer. Kurt took the time to assess the situation, it was not as bad as he had feared it was going to be; everyone had come in a mostly calm demeanor, which had been a great deal less stressful than the onslaught of verbal abuse he knew Rachel had been preparing for. It had shocked him though, that it was Quinn who had been the 'righteously' angry one. Kurt had pegged her as a lot of things, but never hypocritical and it had angered him to see her so. In all honesty, if Natalie hadn't intervened when she did, he would have torn her to pieces. And enjoyed it, he was sure.

Rachel's voice, soft and unsure brought him from his reverie and he sat up straighter, keen to hear her response. The question had not been one he thought would come from Santana. Sure she had changed greatly since high school, but he still expected her to be making rude and vulgar comments and just there in general, to see the drama. The fact that she was being not only serious, but kind as well made Kurt feel distinctively proud of her.

"I don't – quite understand what – what you mean Santana?" Rachel trailed her statement off as a question, confused and a little shocked. She had expected reactions similar to Quinn's from everyone and one even worse from Santana. She had been thinking of sophomore Santana, the one who had been afraid of everything and hated the world, not the Santana who had come to her feelings and had the courage to marry her love and decided to have children with. She was dealing with someone infinitely more mature who had realized her mistakes and was bent on fixing them.

"What I mean Berry, is how in sweet hell could you find the strength to walk away from the town you were raised in, the people you grew up with, the love of your life and father of your children? Why didn't you scream and rage and demand everything to work for you? Why didn't you demand Finn to marry you, or at least be in support of your children? How did you accomplish raising your children, obviously well from how mini-you tore into preggers, by yourself without going absolutely crazy? Do you get what I'm asking now?" Santana watched Berry as she bit her lip softly, nodding. She could say truthfully that she was surprised that Berry was still standing after all of this; tall and proud even with the world beating down on her shoulders. It was truly remarkable.

"Yes, I think I do, Santana, I don't know why you are asking me these questions, but yes, I understand." Rachel smiled at her, a show smile Santana knew, and began to pace, not unlike Natalie had been earlier. "It wasn't as hard as other things, to leave Lima. It had been my dream all my life, to leave Lima and start a wonderful adventure on my own. Sure it didn't happen the way I planned, but I had always been prepared to leave, I just needed the moment. The people, obviously, were harder. I could leave abusers like Karosky easy. They didn't care for me, and I didn't for them. Other people like the glee club, even you though God knows we hated each other, were hard to leave behind…" she paused for breath, movement stopping temporarily.

"You all were family and I really wanted to come to you all and demand the support Quinn got, but I knew that, with how low on the chain the Glee club already was, when word got out I, the McKinley loser, was pregnant, anyone of you helping me would basically be committing social suicide, and I couldn't force you guys to do that for me, so I left you all behind –" Out of the corner of her eye, she caught Kurt and Blaine shooting her smirks, "Well almost all of you, anyway. Some were just too damn persistent." Kurt and Blaine stifled their laughter, and sat straight when they noticed her looking at them.

"You both are ridiculously whipped by her, just saying." Kurt glared at Santana while Blaine settled for a mock-insulted look, the twins laughed. Rachel quickly cleared her throat and their attentions were again caught up on her and she began to speak again.

"I didn't scream or rage or demand Finn to help me, because I didn't feel that it would accomplish anything. Screaming wouldn't make the world fix itself, and raging only made people dislike me more. Finn…." Her throat caught and it took her a second to fight the wave of emotions that had long ago passed, "Finn was happy, Quinn by his side and all the drama from the previous year forgotten. He was back on top of the world, and if I brought him into the sordid affair, he would have been thrust right back down to the bottom, miserable and angry. I couldn't do that, not to him-" more damn emotions, "I – I cared to much for him to do it, to destroy his innocence. I just couldn't." her voice cracked and the tears fell, and all at once, Kurt and Blaine were beside her, Blaine pulling her safely into his arms and Kurt stroking her hair, whispering that it was all alright.

In that moment, Santana found her last question answered. Rachel hadn't done it all alone, not completely. She had her fathers with her and these two wonderful boys to help her. She didn't need any more answers from Rachel, so she and Brittany left, on the presumption of finding baby daddies. Santana knew though, as she hugged Rachel tightly, and caught eyes with Kurt, that it was unnecessary. In that moment, she had found the men she wanted to be the father or fathers. Two men, there had never been any finer was her thought as Brittany dragged her out of the house, excitement at the potentiality of children.

She just needed to ask them. But that could wait, she felt looking back at the living room where Rachel had two more obstacles to face, until later.

* * *

So... I can honestly say I am kind of failing at the whole 'one chapter a day' deal and I know you guys are probably not the happiest bunch about it and I'm truly sorry, but there is only a little left. I have (currently) Mr. Schuester's chapter, Finn's chapter, one where the ENTIRE glee club gets to meet the twins, and an epilogue-esque thing planned. So, are time together is now numbered by four, but I hope you have enjoyed it so far and continue to do so. Until next time.


	15. Chapter 15

Will looked around at the remainder of the group. Beside him sat Finn Hudson, his once star male lead and now a father, across from him sat Kurt Hummel, one of the original of the five glee clubbers, and his longtime boyfriend, Blaine Anderson, whom Will had known only through Kurt, as well as the two youngest in the room and cause of most of the current trouble Hermione Nataline and Blaine Christopher Berry. Directly in front of him, nerves obviously shot and tear tracks staining her cheeks, stood their mother, Rachel Berry, his once star female lead. Now, now he truly did not know what she was.

"I guess that I'll go now? Emma needs me to pick the children up at five, so…" Will watched as Rachel nodded and then gulped as she realized that meant Finn would be next. Will didn't blame her for being frightened, he knew how angry he had been when he found out his first wife _wasn'_t pregnant, and he knew how mad Finn had been when he found out Quinn's baby wasn't his, and this seemed to trump both of those situations by a landslide.

"Can we just, you know, get it over with? I'm sorry, I know you deserve all the answers that I can give, but I'm extremely physically and mentally exhausted and I'm not sure how much more of this I can take, so please hurry up." The fact that she needed most of her remaining strength to deal with the 'baby daddy' was left unsaid.

"Not a problem Rachel, not a problem. Umm," He ran his hands through his hair, wondering how to ask his question. The Rachel he knew wasn't like this: she was abrasive, sometimes a little too self-centered, but a generally good hearted girl; she had also never truly tasted the real world. She had wide dreams, and the world had never once truly harmed her. Now, from what he had seen of her Rachel was still abrasive (he was fairly certain she and Kurt had a hand in Finn walking in), and maybe self-centered, but he truly had no idea, and obviously still had a great heart; now she had a taste of the world. The world had crashed on her and she had bared the weight as someone twice her elder couldn't have. He no longer knew Rachel has he once had, and no idea on how to address her.

"What I want to know is… he started finally, "is why you just couldn't _trust_ us?" He shook his head, as if willing bad thoughts away and Rachel wished that trick actually worked. Why didn't she trust the glee club? She knew why she didn't want them to help, the ostracism from the student body would have been the same as a knife to their wrist, but why didn't she trust them? She had preached to Quinn numerous times about trusting the Glee club during her pregnancy, why didn't she pay the favor?

"I guess…." She trailed of for a moment, "that no one noticed so I didn't feel the need to really….. really bring it out into the open. It was selfish I know, but I wanted you all to maintain that image of me you all had." Will raised his eyebrows; she clarified, "I mean, you all thought of me as this strong, somewhat independent, virgin. Before I left, you all had an idea of me that I was strong enough to tackle the world. I was selfish, still am actually, but I also cared for all of you in a way that was hard for me to even fathom." She was passionate now, and Will was reminded of a younger version of her.

"That's the selfish reason, anyway; the hopefully less selfish reason was that I didn't want to put you all through that. Sophomore year, with Quinn, Finn, and Noah, it tore the glee club apart. I caused enough trouble over the years we spent together; I didn't want to shake the very foundation all over again. Finn was with Quinn, and if the pregnancy came out, it would cause all sorts of trouble between the three of us. Not to mention Coach Sylvester would have a total field day with _another_ teen pregnancy in Glee club, it would ruin it. I wanted to leave in good legacy, and with good graces. It's selfish and horrible, and I'm sorry but I just didn't… couldn't trust you all with it. I don't know why and I know that's an extremely ill-suited answer to what you expected as an answer but that's how I feel and I can't think of anything else." She looked down ashamed, and Will took the time to think through what she said before responding.

"Actually, I think I understand more now than before, Rachel." He gently placed a hand on her shoulder, reminiscent of the two years they spent together, as teacher and student. She turned away, ashamed. "I just wish that we – that is to say I and the rest of the glee club – could have been there for you, like you had for the rest of us." She looked at him, surprised like he knew that she would. She gave her a smile and grabbed her hand, pulling her towards Kurt and Blaine. They smiled at her and grabbed her hands, Blaine pulling the one Will was holding from her.

"When I was doing rehearsals, I saw all this talent but nothing that really tied them together, that was until you stepped on the stage and sang "On My Own"; it still gives me chills, whenever I think of it and I thought she's going to tie us all together, that's the one. And you were, without anyone really realizing, you became the back bone of the club." Rachel's eyes were wide, and Kurt squeezed her hand, smiling widely. Will could feel Finn's eyes burning into his back and he wondered whether it was a glare or simply his imagination. The twins were also looking at him, a mixture of awe and respect glued to each of their faces. He continued.

"When I was quitting to go work as an accountant and Finn left because he felt he no longer needed to be there, but you pulled_ everyone_ back together and put together and performed an amazing number." He smiled at the memory, "and then, Quinn Fabray and the rest of the cheerleaders joined I gave the solos to her, for the whole popularity, and you left, then, then when we needed you all over again, and you were there all over again." Rachel smiled but made to stop him; he held his hand out and continued.

"When Quinn stopped showing up because she was ashamed that we all knew she was pregnant, you marched out and talked to her about it. You made sure she came back and even orchestrated a whole 'cheer-up' ensemble for her and Finn when the entire school found out she was pregnant and then she got kicked off the cheerleaders. And when you found out that that baby wasn't Finn's, you immediately told him, which was more courage than any of the others had." He made sure not to put emphasize on 'that' but Rachel still winced as if he did, though she made no movement to stop him.

"And at sectionals you killed 'Don't Rain on My Parade' and won sectionals for us. And then, the next year, you won us Regionals and Nationals, not to mention you verbally beat us when we let Kurt's abuse slide, and before you even left you made sure that everyone was happy. You cared for us Rachel, and I only wish you could have trusted us to be there for you." He cast his sad, slightly disappointed gaze at her and she sobbed slightly, burying her face into Blaine's chest.

"We cared for you too Rachel, so very much, and we still do. If you ever need anything, you still know where the choir room is. That extends to you two as well," he turned to the twins who both nodded at him, small smiles gracing their lips. "I've got to go, but hold on Rachel, I promise it will get easier for you." He cast a sideways glance at Finn who shifted uncomfortably, "just ride the storm." He gave her another lingering look, and gave her a quick, chaste hug before walking out.

Finn stood.

"I know and you don't have to say it. Just, just try not to yell really loud, it might frighten the neighbors." She looked downcast and didn't notice as Finn walked within inches of her before he gently placed a hand on her face. She gasped a little when he placed a light enough weight to force her to look up at him but not hard enough to cause her pain. Her eyes were the same chocolate brown wide ones he'd always loved, even red-rimmed and a slight glaze of fear over them. It made his heart ache in ways he hadn't felt for years.

"I'm not mad Rach," gasps went around the room and he was reminded they weren't alone. "I mean to say, I am but, but…." He ran his hand through his hair, taking a step back and casting a worried, slightly anxious look around the room, at his brother and his boyfriend, at his children. He quickly closed his eyes and taking a deep breath before returning back to Rachel, "I don't know Rach, I'm confused, and hurt and all these emotions just keep swirling around in my head and make me feel like I'm going to explode."

He refused to look away from her tear-stained face and willed for any hatred to surface. After he found out about Quinn and Puck, he couldn't look at Quinn without either wanting to throw something at her or break down into tears and he hated her for quite a while. He had figured that it would be worse, since they were his children that for fifteen years he didn't knew existed, but as soon as he saw Rachel, all that resolve went out the window. When Quinn yelled at her, he wanted to yell at her to stop being a hypocrite or take Rachel in his arms and not let go until the pain went away. Standing close to her, the feeling only doubled.

"I'm angry yes, but I'm also sad, and worried, and and…." He bit his lip. He couldn't say this, not in front of an audience. Not in front of his brother and Blaine, and definitely not in front of his children. Rachel seemed to catch his vibe, or maybe recognized the look on his face. Either way, she shot a look at Kurt who nodded.

"Come on you two; let's leave your... parents to their conversation." Natalie made a noise of protest but Kurt shook his head, gestured slightly at something only Natalie seemed to understand. She nodded and grabbed Blaine's hand while Kurt grabbed his boyfriend's, and they quickly stalked out of the room. Rachel waited until she heard their slightly too-loud footsteps up the stairs fade into the background before turning back towards Finn.

Silence stretched, as Rachel studied Finn, waiting for him to continue his explanation. He was a few more inches than when she had last saw him, but he had the same boyish face, covered with light freckles, only noticeable when someone stood extremely close to him. He still had the same light brown eyes, the ones that for fifteen years stared back at her in the face of her son. She didn't want to break the silence but this was getting painful, for him to stare at her quite like that hurt, when she knew that in the end he would walk away again.

"And what Finn?" she hated how breathless she sounded, but Finn was looking at her with those eyes again and she felt like she was falling. He didn't break the eye contact as he stepped closer to her more and gently grabbed her hand and placed it on his chest, over his heart.

"My heart's beating really fast again, like that day in the auditorium when we kissed for the first time," her eyes must have been wide, because Finn chuckled a little. She felt her heart breaking, just a little, and wondered what the hell he was playing at.

"What are you getting at Finn?" she tried to pull away but he held her close. She made to speak but he shushed her. He closed his eyes, fishing the final time for that hatred that just wasn't there. He knew what to do as soon as he opened his eyes and found her still standing there; he just needed the courage to say it. "What are you getting at Finn?" she repeated, a slight tinge of annoyance coloring a high light into her tone of fear. Finn almost wanted to laugh, but the tear stains on Rachel's face and the ones he knew had colored his eyes red, told him that it was most inappropriate at this time.

"And… and I still love you, Rachel."

* * *

Well, this one was actually a little hard to write and I can't fathom the next one, but I still love it and hope you all do 's longer than the last and more important, so yeah. I have three more kind of, sort of planned and then we are done. Until next time, then!


	16. Chapter 16

"Wha-what?" in shock, Rachel had lost all her eloquence. Her nerves were shot after this entire day; she had been bracing herself since morning for yelling and storming. She had dug out her old photo albums to remember what good people they all were, and to think about how what she did was wrong and they had the right to be angry, to make sure she didn't fight back. She had expected responses like Quinn's, hypocritical though it was, from everyone. She had not expected Puck to ask for forgiveness or Santana to ask about her strength. She had not expected Mr. Schuester to talk about all the good things she did for everyone or be sad that she had not allowed them to help her, or Brittany's embrace. She had expected Finn to come storming in, yelling and cursing at her; telling her that he hated her. Evidently, that was not the case.

"You don't believe me?" Finn pulled her close, and tucked her head under his chin. She laid her head against his chest, feeling his heartbeat, and sobbed a little. Finn took that as a no, and tightened his arms around her. "I do," he told her, "I don't know why. This voice in my head that weirdly sounds like Quinn is telling me to be mad at you, and a part of me is," Rachel quivered, "but an even bigger part is mad at myself. I should have noticed the signs, the extra weight, the occasional puking, all of it." Rachel mumbled something against his chest. "I wasn't into Quinn, in fact, part of me still couldn't stand her. I did it to get back at you and Puck. I knew he was still into her and dating her would hurt him. It was stupid, I know, and the biggest mistake of my life, it cost me so much, and I'll always regret it." His voice quivered and he rushed through the rest before the tears could fall.

"I don't understand. I expected you to despise me!" Finn could feel the tears soaking through his but didn't let go, afraid it would disturb the semi-peaceful atmosphere. "Why don't you?" Rachel's voice was quiet and so badly muffled that it took him several moments to understand what she said. He was silent for a little longer, trying in vain to grasp an understanding on his emotions before answering her.

"I can't honestly say for sure why I don't. I expected to. I expected to be revolted by you the moment I saw your face-"another quiver and Rachel made to pull away. He allowed her a little leave, just enough that he could see her face to face. She made to look away, but he held her face in place with a gentle hand, "but as soon as I saw you, standing in the doorway, as sad and beautiful as ever, I could not find it. When Quinn was yelling at you, I wanted so badly to defend you, and call her out on pure bitchiness. Instead of anger, whenever you spoke, I felt sadness because you'd gone through so much. I've tried to find that hatred, but I just couldn't. The truth is I am still in love with you as much as I was at regionals sophomore year, when I found the courage to tell you." Finn gently brushed the stray tears off of Rachel's cheek.

"I am incredibly upset about not knowing about Blaine and Natalie, but I've learned now to not let go of someone like you, not for something like this, where you felt this strongly and thought of this as your only way. I love you, and I love them too because they are my children. I know we have a lot of things to work out, if we want to do something, and I have to make it up with Blaine and Natalie for missing out so much on their lives, but I want this Rachel, a lot," his voice quivered a little but he pushed through, "only if you'll let me though. If you still don't want me to be involved Rach, I will walk right out, and not look back, I promise." He stopped, giving her time to respond.

Rachel stayed in his arms, comforted by the old, familiar, warmth. She didn't quite know why this was so easy, most of her life hadn't been, but she was not a fool, and knew a good moment when she saw them. "Don't be stupid, Finn," she scolded him playfully, a little smile lighting up her tear-stained face. Finn had never seen a more beautiful sight. "Of course I want you involved. B and Natalie deserve the chance to know their real father, and you deserve the chance to know your children. And," she paused again and looked down.

"And what Rach?" Finn's voice was soft but prying, and Rachel found herself open to the tone.

"I still love you Finn. Every waking moment that has passed, and I still love you," she pressed herself against him again, looking up at him. "and I want to finish raising our children together." Finn kissed her. It was soft and chaste, they broke apart quickly, but it spoke of promise. They couldn't say the road would be easy from there. That everything would work out in their favor. They weren't the teenage sweethearts that hadn't felt the sting of the world on their cheeks. They were adults, knew they had things to discuss, important things that had not been addressed yet, but in that moment; in that moment they had tasted perfection, and they weren't letting it go without a fight.

* * *

Kurt looked away after they kissed, and instead looked around him. Beside him, grinning like Cheshire cats, were the twins, his niece and nephew. He didn't blame them; he could feel his face contorted into a big smile as well. All was well, as well as it would ever be anyway, and after fifteen years Rachel was home. She had finally found her way back and it was a wonderful feeling to him. He felt a light tugging on his hand and looked. Blaine's eyes were more intense than he had seen them in a while and it caused his breath to catch. He jerked his head to the left, gesturing to the guest room in Rachel's house, and with a quick glance at Blaine and Natalie who were paying them no heed, caught up as they were in their parents' moment, followed him.

"What is it babe?" he kept his voice calm, and painted a slightly interested look on his face. Inside, as he was most prone to do, he was freaking out, a thousand thoughts jetting across his mind. Kurt knew that look, it was always when something serious was about to go down, and it had never boded well with him. He thought the moment had finally come, the one where Blaine would admit that he was finally bored of Kurt and was going to leave; he knew deep down the thought was stupid, but looking at Blaine look at him with that intense gaze, he couldn't help but freak out.

"I've been thinking a lot Kurt, you know, about us?" Blaine was wringing his hands, nervous as hell. What if Kurt said no, that he wasn't ready for this? Or told him that now that Rachel and Finn were together, he had no need of him? That he had only stayed for the twins? Thoughts whizzed around his head, whispering cruel words and planting seeds of doubt in his mind.

"Are you breaking up with me?" the words were kept quiet, but Blaine could feel the worry and the heartbreaking sadness all wrapped up in it and panicked.

"No! Of course Kurt! I would never!" he could see Kurt visibly relax for a moment before tensing up again, eyes narrowing. He knew he had to talk now and fast or get the verbal lashing of his life. He dropped to a knee and fished in his pocket. Kurt's eyes were the size of saucers and were it any other moment but the one that would decide their lives forever, he would have left.

"Kurt Hummel, I've known you since your junior year, when you interrupted me on the staircase and pretended to be a new student so that you could spy on us. I had feelings for you then, but I never truly realized them until I heard you sing Blackbird. In that moment I realized who you were to me, and my feelings for you. And since that day, they've only grown stronger. Every day I love you a little more, and I want that to keep happening…" he stood up now, clutching Kurt's hand in his, tilting his head slightly to look at him.

"Blaine….." Kurt's voice was shaky, his eyes wide and Blaine didn't know whether that was good or bad, so he just continued.

"Kurt Hummel, you are the person I want to spend the rest of my life with. I will love you now and for the rest of my life, and I want nothing more than your hand in marriage. Will you do me the honors?" Kurt couldn't help but smile at the cheesy as hell proposal as the tears flowed down and he nodded frantically, holding his hand out as Blaine gently slipped the ring on his finger before enveloping him in gentle kiss.

Kurt didn't know how long they stood there, lips-locked but it felt like eternity. When they finally broke apart, he took the chance to look at the ring and a soft laugh escaped his lips; the ring was simple in itself, a small silver band, but written in intertwining writing, French and English, was the word _courage_. Trust Blaine to do something like that was what Kurt thought as he pressed his lips to Blaine's; the kiss more passionate than the last.

Kurt didn't know what tomorrow would bring, not with Rachel and Finn and twins, not with him and Blaine, or anyone really. He couldn't think of the drama to come, from the upcoming wedding which would just have to be perfect, or Rachel informing the rest of glee club or anything. But he knew what he wanted. A life with Blaine, with their two point five children, at least one of both parents, and he knew who he wanted to be the mother of them. Rachel was an amazing mother, his best friend. He had no idea if she would agree, but in that moment the future didn't matter. Nothing but him and Blaine did, and in that moment; that one little moment in an universe of others, was perfection.

* * *

Nice little fluff for Kurt and Blaine at the end, and a set-up for the last two chapters. There was a reviewer earlier who asked if Brittana and Klaine were going to raise their children together, and I think I've answered that question, but just in case, Santana and Brittany are going to ask Kurt and Blaine to be their baby daddies while Kurt is going to ask Rachel to be their baby momma. There are two more chapters, one where the rest of the glee club meets the twins, and an epilogue of sorts, which already has a few little twists mixed in, just to keep the story open. For one of the last times, until next time!


	17. Chapter 17

~Two Weeks Later~

"I appreciate your help, Mercedes and Kurt, but I do not think I can remember all of this," Rachel tried to keep her voice polite, but she was borderline emotional break down at the moment. After the day where she had explained herself, she and Finn had a few days of just talking and they had begun to date again, albeit slowly, and Finn had forged a relationship with the twins. Quinn still point blank refused to speak with her or Finn now, but Puck remained quite friendly, visiting from time to time. Santana and Brittany, in what Rachel believed was Brittany's request, visited them daily, often dropping the twins off from school; they had seemingly given temporary hiatus to finding a baby daddy, but from the way Santana was closely watching Kurt and Blaine, Rachel doubted that.

Kurt and Blaine, in fact, also seemed to be hiding something, though Rachel could honestly say she had no idea what it was. They were more giddy than usual, holding hands under the dinner table and sharing chaste kisses when they thought no one was watching; it was like they were first dating again and Rachel found it adorable. For a while, Rachel and Finn had thrown ideas around. Finn had suggested they were finally engaged, but Rachel had shot it down for the fact that if Blaine had finally popped the question, Kurt would have been jumping around screaming like a banshee. It was the simple mystery of the situation that had gotten her into this mess of a 'reunion' with the rest of the glee club.

"What is so hard to understand, mama?" Mercedes rolled her eyes. Rachel Berry was still as much as a diva now as she was in high school, which was saying much. To get a phone call from Kurt telling her that Rachel Berry had children, and they were Finn's no less, was shocking, but she had taken it far better than Quinn had and was now trying to fill in the mother with the new scoop on all the old glee club members, so that she had at least an idea on what was up. It was proving, however, to be more strenuous than either she or Kurt had first assumed.

"It's simple really, babe. About a month after you left, Finn broke it off with Quinn, and for a short time she was single. Then, Lauren ended things with Puck, saying that he was just too fruity for her and ran off with a big wrestler from a rival school. They flirted around for a while, before Puck finally got the balls to ask her out. They dated all through junior year, broke up over the summer as per demand of Quinn's parents. For a while that seemed like the end of the fever dream that was the two of them, and then graduation comes and Puck was on his knee, asking for the honor of Quinn's hand. She agreed and they were married off before freshman year of college began. Understand so far?" Kurt felt a lot more patient then he normally would have, and so explained everything carefully.

Rachel nodded; he continued: "Puck originally wasn't going to go to college, but he realized the severity of their financial situation and went in for physical therapy. In the end, they both settled on teaching degrees, and settled back down in a nice sized home here in Lima. They have had their moments in the pasts, and Quinn even left him for a while, but they made up within a week and she moved back in. Then, about three years ago, Quinn ended up pregnant. She gave birth without complications, to their daughter, Abigail Faith, called Abby. That's it for them. Did you follow?" Rachel slowly nodded again, trying to digest the information, Kurt ruthlessly continued. "Good, but that's not the important information. Chances are Quinn won't even come today, and Puck really doesn't care if you know his daughter's name or not. It's Artie and Tina you have to worry about." Rachel's eyes bugged.

"Artie and Tina? I thought for sure that Tina would have gone off and married Mike and had Asian babies with him!" Kurt chuckled.

"So did we, but come end of junior year, Brittany left Artie to date Santana, and Tina and him got back together. Mike was pretty okay with it, and when his parents took him to Chinatown to visit relatives he fell in love with this girl. She's Japanese, but that's not as important as the fact that they are married now and have a four year old girl named Hiromi. She might come today with her father, I'm not sure. Anyway, Tina and Artie ended up having the most stable of relationships of all the heterosexual partners in the glee club. They ended going to Ohio State together, and married right after college graduation. I guess whatever god he believes in gave him wanted to totally make up for the lack of leg thing, and gave him major fertility. They have five year old triplets, Annabel Lynn, Thalia Grace, and the only boy, Damien James. Tina's quite proud of them, so you best remember their names." Kurt finished, Rachel's eyes were huge.

"Triplets? God, that's horrible, extremely horrible. I couldn't handle it. How can she?" Rachel imagined having an extra child running around and shuddered slightly.

"Yeah, Tina's a stay-at-home mom with an occasional job on the side. Artie works as a computer programmer and makes pretty good money. He's less... adamant about his children; if you forget a name or something, ask him and he won't verbally abuse you about it. Tina tends to freak." Rachel nodded again; she felt the same about her children, at times.

"Sam married a sweetheart from his old town, they have one boy, nine years old, named Alexander, and a girl, 8, named Clara. There isn't much left for them, but they will both be here I think." Rachel nodded. She had only known Sam for junior year, so she didn't care as much for his history.

"And that leaves only one more person, baby girl." Rachel turned back towards Mercedes and smiled at her as Mercedes gently caressed the rather large bump on her belly. "You've already met my husband and all that. We met my third year of college, in my fashion design class; for the longest time I thought he was gay." Rachel giggled, and Kurt smirked.

"Sorry about that boo, I ruined all the good men out there." That caused both the girls to laugh and Kurt soon joined in. Rachel felt peaceful; sitting there with her old high school friends. She loved her children, and every day with them passed without a single regret on keeping them, but sometimes she liked to feel normal, that she hadn't had twins at sixteen, and that maybe she was pregnant with her first or second now, like Mercedes. She knew it couldn't happen, but she liked to fling the fantasy around. She was afraid that this was the calm before the storm; that when it came to this afternoon, she was going to get it, but in this little moment, she was happy, and that wasn't going anywhere.

* * *

Natalie picked incessantly at the hem of her dress, nervously glancing at the door every few seconds. No one was talking, and a stifling silence hung around the room. To her right sat her brother, mother, hand clasped gently into Finn's. Natalie felt the odd pressure ease slightly. Her father was a great man and she knew Blaine was slowly attaching himself to him. She herself was a little more withdrawn, and Finn seemed to sense that; he didn't push it, and for that she was very grateful. Next to her father sat Uncle Kurt and Uncle Blaine, who had been far giddier than she ever remembered them being.

The others, with the exception of Mr. Schuester who was sitting in the office adjacent the choir room, were going to arrive at any moment. Natalie had already net a few of them; the ones who had come to the house and Mercedes, who was Kurt's best friend, other than her mother. They had also met her husband, a rather ambiguous African-American man who seemed to dote on Mercedes. Mercedes was a loud and slightly abrasive woman with a heart of gold and a flair for fashion. She had accepted the two with open arms but, in a way that reminded Natalie of Kurt, had demanded to buy her clothing for the meeting. That was why Natalie sat in a white baby-doll style dress with red and black flowers adorning it. A matching black ribbon tired around her waist and red cardigan with red ballet flats completed a look that was approved by Mercedes and was still comfortable for Natalie.

That didn't stop her from nearly tearing it from her sheer grip as people started to walk in. Blaine's hands tightened around each other, Finn held Rachel's hand with a harder grip, Kurt and Blaine sat up rim rod straight, and Mr. Schuester came out of his office to join them, his hands wringing each other. A small red-headed woman Natalie recognized as Emma Pillsbury-Schuester, the school guidance counselor. Two girls, one about thirteen and another around eleven, followed closely behind her. One, the oldest, had curly brown hair and her mother's honey colored eyes; the younger one had reddish brown hair, straight, and her father's eyes.

Mrs. Pillsbury-Schuester greeted them with a soft titter that her daughters echoed before sitting next to her husband, gently straightening her skirt as she did so. She kept shooting covert glances at Natalie and Blaine but Natalie ignored them in favor of watching the others arrive. Quinn and Puck were the next to come in, little Abby tucked safely in Puck's arms. Quinn pretty much ignored them as a whole, sitting the furthest away that she could, but Puck shot them a smile before sitting beside his wife.

Then came Brittany and Santana, sitting in the gap between Quinn and Puck and others, Brittany stopping to hug both Blaine and Natalie, smiling brightly at Rachel and Finn, and a little shyly at Blaine and Kurt, which surprised them somewhat. Before Natalie could over-analyze that, Mercedes walked in, holding hands with her husband. She smiled brightly at them and sat next to Brittany, immediately engaging the blonde in light chatter before the others showed up.

Natalie felt her pulse quicken somewhat when a couple she completely did not recognize walked in. She recognized the boy as Michael Chang, the dancer of the Glee Club in her mother's days. Beside him stood his wife, a pretty woman with dark, straight hair, and dark brown eyes. Holding her mother's hand, stood a little girl about four years old, with her mother's hair and eyes dressed in a dark purple dress and white cardigan. She was all smiles and greeted everyone with a bright 'hello' when they'd all walked in.

"This is freaky," Mike broke the silence that had fallen and it caused laughter to fall. "Seriously though, it's like…. It's like…." Mike struggled to find the words, gesturing towards the twins. Natalie joined in on the laughter, feeling an anxious weight leave her. So far, no one was yelling, and that was a great start according to Uncle Kurt.

"Like Night of the Body Snatchers or something bro," another voice stated. A man in a wheel chair, dark brown hair and blue eyes hidden behind glasses; he had two little girls hanging off of him, and his wife standing beside him, held their boy; Natalie recognized them as Artie and Tina Abrams. Mike greeted Artie with a fist bump, which made Natalie grin amusedly, seeing as no one did that anymore, and a 'man' hug. Tina greeted Mike with a hug and his wife the same. The children babbled together, indicating that the two families were frequent visitors. Tina separated herself from the little group to address them.

"Hello Rachel, long time no see," she offered Rachel a soft smile, which was returned. Tina hesitantly opened her arms wide, and Rachel laughed before hugging her. Mike and Artie joined in, and then the children, although having no idea who everyone was, joined in as well.

"I've always said you and Finn would have children Rach, just never like this. I kind of figured you would meet up on a snowy street on Christmas Eve and it would end up being like a cheesy romance." Tina eyed the two children as she spoke. Natalie and Blaine both offered her self-conscious smiles which she returned. "I guess it is still rather cheesy romance, but still. Your daughter is beautiful, looks just like you Rachel." Tina's heart swooped when Natalie beamed at her, "and your boy looks just like his father, outrageous height and everything," that won a surprised chuckle out of Blaine.

"You and Artie's babies are as cute as anything," Rachel felt the need to return the compliment. That and it was quite true. The boy, Damien, had the brown hair of his father with his mother's dark brown eyes, while the girls, Annabel and Thalia, who both had their mother's dark hair but their father's blue eyes. Thalia, Rachel remembered, was the girl with the shorter, chin length hair and had inherited her mother's sense of dress, wearing a black shirt, and matching skirt with red flowers on it. Annabel had almost waist length hair and wore a similar outfit to her sister, but with white and pink instead.

"Hey! You guys started without me?" Sam's mock-insulted voice rang from the doorway, and Rachel looked up. Sam's hair was a light brown now, instead of the light blond it had been the last time she saw him; beside him stood his wife, a short red-haired woman with bright green eyes. His nine year old boy, Alex stood next to him, the same scruff of brown-blonde hair and light eyes as his father. Their girl, Clara, had her mother's dark red hair, and deeper colored eyes, and was softly peering at them through her mother's legs.

After Sam and his wife had greeted everyone and the conversation had lulled from niceties to memories and new comings, the time passing by flashed for Natalie. Only several things had stood out through the times, one where her brother received a phone call, and then spent the rest of the time grinning like a love-struck fool and sending text messages in between conversation. Another was when Santana and Brittany admitted who they wanted to be the father to their children:

"Have you guys found any good fathers?" Rachel asked conversationally, brushing Blaine's hand in a way to tell him to stop texting and pay attention. Santana averted her eyes, embarrassed a little, which surprised Rachel.

"Well, me and Britt talked about it, and we've decided on two people, but we haven't been able to ask them yet." Rachel's eyebrows shot up somewhat as she speculated.

"Well, who is it?" Kurt's excited voice cut into the conversation. Rachel found it odd that Santana averted her eyes from him as well.

"We thought we would have someone we know, just so they can be around for their kids, right? But we don't know a way to tell them or ask them –" Santana began before being cut off by her more exuberant wife.

"We wanted you and Blainie to be the daddies, Kurtsie!" Brittany exploded, bouncing out of her seat excitedly, bright smile planted on her face. Kurt and Blaine shared a quick look, before breaking out into bright smiles.

"We'd love to be your baby daddies!" Santana laughed, and told them they would discuss it all at a later date. This conversation led to many of the glee mothers on giving tips on how best to raise the children, some clashing with others which led to mild spats that left Natalie's attention waning. She tried to see who Blaine was texting, but he quickly flipped his hand so she couldn't see. It ended up not mattering, for soon the conversation hooked her back in:

"So are you and Blaine thinking of having children any time soon?" Mercedes asked. She had always figured Kurt and Blaine would be married by now with a thousand children running around, but the years had passed and naught. She half-hoped the giddiness of the two had been brought up by a sudden proposal.

Kurt blushed and Blaine smiled, reaching for his fiancée's hand. "Actually Mercedes, everyone, we waited until everyone was here to tell you," Kurt shyly held out his hand, showing them the silver band that adorned his finger. The girls gasped and jumped the two, squealing loudly, and shouting about wedding plans. The boys thumped them on the backs, mixtures of congratulations and about times being thrown around.

"What about babies?" Natalie brought up, bringing the conversation back to the main question. Kurt shot Blaine a look and his fiancée took over the conversation.

"Actually, Nat, we were kind of hoping to talk to your mother about that." Rachel's eyebrows shot up as Blaine rested his eyes on her. "Kurt and I were talking, and I agreed with him, that if you agree, we wanted you to be our surrogate. We've watched you raise B and Natalie, and you've done a fantastic job, and you know what it feels like to be a girl with two gay fathers, so if we have a daughter she can always go to you for help." Blaine left it at that waiting for Rachel to speak.

Rachel shot a look at Finn, as if asking him his opinion. He smiled at her, reassuringly squeezing her hand and she turned back to the two, now grinning. "I've got to warn you two, twins run in the family." This caused laughs out of everyone and the evening passed in relative peace, even Quinn slowly warming up to everyone.

* * *

Natalie caught up with Blaine afterwards, looping arms with him as they made their way to the parking lot.

"What do you want Natalie?" Natalie shot him a mock-offended look and he scoffed at her in return, causing her to smile.

"I just wanted to know who you were cyber-flirting with earlier," Blaine shot her an 'I-Don't-Know-What-You-Are-Talking-About look and she rolled her eyes, "please don't even play innocent Blaine Christopher, you were making googly eyes at your phone the _entire_ time." Blaine blushed slightly and turned away from his sister.

"I have no idea what you mean by googly eyes as I was so not, Hermione Nataline, but if you want to know, I was talking to Beth Corcoran." Natalie's mouth dropped.

"Cheerleader Beth Corcoran?" Blaine shushed her hurriedly, checking to make sure no one was around. He got enough harassment throughout the day when it came out he hadn't had a girlfriend yet, he didn't need to catch any heat when they got wind of that.

"Yes! She called me earlier! She's really nice!" Natalie shot him a 'you're-crazy' look but thankfully dropped the subject. After all, they had no idea what kind of connection Beth had to their family.

* * *

Sorry it took so long but... second to last chapter finally up! This one was kind of there just for me to include the baby plans. I added Beth at the end because originally I put her in (she's mentioned during the Blaine and Natalie first day chapters) but I never followed up, so I did now. The last one(next one) takes place five years in the future, and kind of ties up loose ends. I have a few special things added in this chapter as little preludes and kudos for anyone pointing them out in a review! For the last time, until next time!


	18. Chapter 18

~5 years later~

"Auntie!" Rachel turned around at the loud cry. Running towards her were two children, the eldest in front, his curly black hair flying about, his hazel eyes alight with excitement. He reached her first, wrapping his tanned arms around her legs and burying his head amongst the fabric of her dress. She laughed warmly, and gently scooped him up in one hand. His younger sister, barely two years of age, with light blonde hair and glasz eyes stood at her knees, pouting adorably at not being up. Rachel laughed again and gently swooped the girl up in her other arm. The girl immediately snuggled into Rachel's chest, searching for warmth.

"Where's your mama, hmm?" Rachel looked knowingly at the four year old boy; his response was to grin widely and point back where he had run from. Rachel looked up and watched as two women, one tall with blonde hair, the other slightly shorter with dark hair. As they approached, Rachel could just make out the annoyed look the shorter one was currently giving them. Rachel turned to the boy, "look what you've done Leo," she lightly scolded, "you made mama mad now." The little boy, now Leo, smiled again and gently wiggled out of her arm, sliding down her leg before running towards his mothers.

Brittany swung her son up into her arms, causing him to giggle, as they stopped right in front of Rachel. "You were right, Britt," Rachel spoke, moving the little girl more securely in her arms, "Santana and Blaine made a beautiful child. Little he-demon, but beautiful." Brittany laughed at that, tossing the little boy in her arms before catching him soundly. It had taken quite a bit of convincing (and withholding certain *ahem* activities) before Santana agreed to bear a child, but she had, and he turned out to be, with the help of Blaine's genes, to be a beautiful although mischievous child.

"This little one isn't hard on the eyes either," Rachel continued, smiling at the toddler in her arms. Brittany and Kurt's child, biologically speaking, a sweet child with a fair share of pouting and cajoling to get what she wanted. Leo was easy to handle, he had a temper and a soft spot for 'exploring' that landed him in plenty of time outs, but this one, Madeleine, was a sneaky little thing. She was like Kurt, playing the nice card, only to get what she wanted. It was amusing, but also bad as she got away with a fair share of things she really shouldn't.

Santana tried to stare irritated; she had told Leo and Maddie to stay where they were while Brittany and Santana got their things out, but as soon as Leo had seen Rachel, they were off, directly disobeying what she had said. However, seeing her son laugh and giggle as his other mother threw him up and caught him, and Maddie curl softly into her aunt, she could feel a smile reaching her features. The damned kids were making her soft.

"You haven't been waiting long, have you?" Brittany asked, gently sliding her son back onto the ground. Rachel shook her head; gently handing Maddie to Santana as she had started to fuss about it.

"No, Finn left maybe five minutes before you came?" Rachel checked her phone, nodded, and continued, "to go pick up the twins. Their flight was delayed a little so I don't know when they are coming. Kurt and Blaine should be here any minute now."

"That's it for this year, huh? Mike and Kaori are taking Hiromi to visit family in Asia, Tina's too pregnant to make any long trip, Sam had family problems, Puck and Quinn are going to marriage counseling again, and Mr. Schuester and his wife are in Vegas." Santana ticked off the families with her fingers as she recounted why each couldn't make it. Rachel was relieved slightly; she had wanted a quiet affair instead of a loud one as these typically were. It gave her time to think and make her decision without too much going on around her.

The sound of an engine brought the three women from their conversation and Rachel grinned as Kurt's blue car made its way into a parking spot. She saw them every day, as they had moved into the same she and Finn lived, but she enjoyed seeing her niece and nephew every time. She had rightfully warned the two about twins running in the family and Kurt and Blaine were the proud fathers of two intelligent three year olds. Her two old friends came into view, each toting a child and Rachel's grin grew as she saw them. The doctor had been shocked, stating that it had been a one in a millionth change, but somehow it had happened. One, the boy, who was older by a few minutes, had dark, extremely messy, curls, tanned skin, and her own wide brown eyes. The other, a slight girl, had pale skin, light brown hair neatly combed, and her father's glasz eyes.

The twins biologically speaking were only half siblings, one being genetically Blaine and Rachel's child, the other Kurt and Rachel's. It was a rare, but possible thing, for fraternal twins to have different fathers, and a win-win situation for Kurt and Blaine. They had agreed, once they realized they were having twins, that Kurt got to name one of the child and the other one would be named by Blaine, but that the nicknames would be picked by the opposite parent. That's why Harry James (Blaine being an extreme nerd) was called Jamie and why Violet Genevieve (Kurt loved older names) was affectionately known as Ginny.

"Hey!" Rachel thought it was unfair as to how, even with three year olds; Blaine managed to have so much energy, when even being on her feet for this long, in her current condition, was tiring. The girls greeted the two, dotted briefly on the twins, before making their way inside to wait for Finn and the older twins. They had decided, since it was only a few of them this year, to have the reunion at Rachel's house. Not much had changed over the five years; it still had the same bright colors that she and Natalie had picked, and the furniture, but the pictures on the walls had another family member included. Rachel's wedding picture sat in the middle of the mantelpiece, her own smiling face staring back at her.

The group made chit-chat, catching up with what was going on between the families before the door opened. They turned expectantly to greet the others and were surprised to see Finn's face, normally warmly colored with child-like excitement this time of year, pale, eyes wide with shock. The only thing he said, when pressed upon by Rachel, was that Blaine had brought a guest home. Rachel, knowing that Blaine had wanted them to finally meet his long term girlfriend, did not quite understand what the big deal was before Blaine and Natalie walked in, a tall-ish blonde girl trailing behind.

Rachel then allowed her jaw to drop with all the others. The young staring shyly at them, slender hand wrapped securely in Blaine's, was the exact replica of a twenty-one-year-old Quinn Frabray; with Puck's eyes. Beth Corcoran was in their house, and Rachel knew exactly how Finn felt.

* * *

The rest of the afternoon passed in a blur, the adults explaining to Beth as to what their slightly rude greeting had been about. The fact that Beth knew was a shock in itself; but after that tidbit, and with promises of reaching Quinn and Puck, as per Beth's request, as soon as possible, the rest of the time passed in peace. This however, left Rachel with the difficult task of finding a way to break certain news to her nerve-racked husband.

They were getting ready for bed, Finn gently straightening his clothing from the day, his back turned from her when she made her decision.

"Finn?" she called him quietly and he hummed back in response, "What do you think of the name Ariadne Grace, if it's a girl and Alexander Jace if it's a boy, we can call him Alec since I know you liked that name," Rachel enjoyed the way Finn's body just seemed to freeze as her words sunk in. He turned to her, eyes wide with question. She grinned and nodded and suddenly found herself in the air as Finn picked her up, twirling her about in a way that made her scream with laughter. Natalie came barreling through the door, demanding to know what was going on, Blaine and Beth (who was staying in the guest room) close behind.

Rachel and Finn explained to the three and Natalie screamed with excitement before running to call Kurt and Blaine. The phones were off the hooks for a few hours after that and it was nearly morning before everyone settled back down to sleep. Rachel found herself cuddled up against Finn's chest, a small bubble of anxiety blowing up to combat the excitement.

"Do you think we can handle it Finn," she whispered into his chest quietly, Finn hummed in response for a moment, tightening his hold on her before looking down questioningly. "We nearly thirty-five, we will be fifty-three when he or she graduates high school, can we handle it?" Finn surprised her by the deep laugh that reverberated from his chest.

"We can do anything we set our minds to Rach, I mean, we made this, he tightened his hold slightly, work out, I'm sure we can handle some new kid." He grinned cheekily at her.

"Even if it's twins?" she challenged, "Chances are higher in older women, to have multiple children, and given my record it's a near certainty." Finn grinned his boyish grin at her in response and stole her lips into a soft kiss.

"That," he whispered onto her lips after pulling away, "makes it twice as awesome." Rachel giggled, and snuggled closer into him as he lifted the duvet over the two of them. Rachel could never say her life would be normal, not with twins in college, one dating what was technically their aunt; her old high school enemy's bastard child, another catching the eyes of every man in sight. Not with her two best friend sets, with their odd children with penchants to trouble, and certainly not with a child, possibly two, on the way. But, Rachel grinned, she wouldn't run this time, but greet the storm with arms held high, braving the wind in hopes of flight. She played a dangerous game; the game of life, and so far, Rachel Berry-Hudson was winning.

* * *

Well, this is the end my friends! With this chapter my first completed fanfic will be uploaded, for all your viewing pleasure, and since its the last I do not feel guilty for totally pandering for reviews, so tell me what you thought please! I left it with an (extremely) open ending just in case I want to write some one-shots or something about their lives from now. I gave Kurt and Blaine's babies dorky names because I can just see Blaine being a closet HP nerd and Kurt going along with it because he loves him. The whole different father thing IS possible with twins, if they are fraternal, because fraternal twins come from two separate eggs instead of one that splits after fertilization. I really enjoyed writing this story and I hope you liked it!


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